Systems and methods for obscuring presentation of media objects during playback of video based on interactions with other media objects

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for obscuring a presence of a media object in a video after a user fulfills an interaction requirement with a related media object. The system detects, an interaction with a media object and determines characteristics of the interaction. The system correlates characteristic of the interaction with an exclusion window and stores a record that links the exclusion window, user, and attribute of the media object. The system detects that a second media object will be displayed during playback of a video and determines an attribute of the second media object. The system retrieves the record by matching the attribute of the first media object from the record to the attribute of the second media object. In response to determining the exclusion window applies to the second media object, the system obscures the second media object while playing back the video.

BACKGROUND

There are many opportunities for users to receive notifications,banners, and other content such as social network content, messaging,and other interactive content while consuming media assets. A user maybecome inundated with distracting content while consuming these mediaassets, and this may result in frustration as the user's viewingexperience is interrupted. Moreover, if this distracting content relatesto media or objects that the user has already, and recently, interactedwith, then the content may be found to be particularly uninteresting tothe user. If a user becomes interrupted too often by uninterestingcontent, the user may decide that watching the media asset is notenjoyable and cease playback of the media asset.

SUMMARY

The advancement of interconnected media services, content providers, andinteractive opportunities has increased the amount of content that canbe presented to a user during playback of desired content.Notifications, interactions, banners, and other content can all bedelivered to a user in parallel with a user's desired content and shownover, next to, or near the content the user is consuming. Furthermore,the portability of media content and the capability of mobile devices toplay back media content means that more and more users consume mediacontent on displays that do not accommodate large displays. Inparticular, systems may present media objects to a user while the useris playing a video and have the media objects take precedence over thevideo even though the user did not choose to view the media objects.While presenting media objects to a user is, at times, useful, users donot often desire to have playback of content interrupted by other mediaobjects, especially if those other media objects are objects the userhas already, and recently, interacted with. Conventional systems andtechniques exist to present media objects to a user while the userdisplays a video, but these systems fail to account for problems ofpresenting media objects during the display of video: (i) a user doesnot want to be constantly interrupted by media objects; (ii) mediaobjects that may have been relevant to the user at an earlier time maynot be relevant to the user after past interactions between the user andother media objects; and (iii) displays of devices used to generate avideo may not be large enough to play a video and present a media objectconcurrently without blocking a portion of the video or media object.

Accordingly, to overcome the problems created when presenting mediaobjects to a user while the user plays a video, systems and methods areprovided herein for obscuring a media object based on user interactionswith prior media objects. For example, a media guidance application maydetect an interaction between a user and a first media object and maydetermine a period of time agreed to by the user during the interaction.The media guidance application may detect, during playback of a video, asecond media object related to the first media object that is to bedepicted during playback of the video. The media guidance applicationmay then determine whether a playback time of the second media object iswithin the period of time to which the user agreed. In response todetermining that the playback time of the second media object is withinthe period of time, the media guidance application may obscure thesecond media object from view by the user during playback. Accordingly,the user may receive a media object while playing a video and not beforced to view the media object if the user's past interactions satisfyrequirements associated with the media object. By obscuring the secondmedia object, the media guidance application can, based on the user'scompliance with the requirements of the prior media object, alleviatethe distraction of presenting media objects to a user while the userconsumes content. Furthermore, the media guidance application can avoiddisplaying media objects to a user that would otherwise consume alimited display screen, e.g., a mobile device's display screen.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application obscures thepresence of a media object in a video after a user fulfills aninteraction requirement with a related media object. For example, themedia guidance application may present a user with video content anddisplay a sponsor's message for thirty seconds before beginning playbackof the video content. The media guidance application may determine thatthe user has the option of watching the message for the full thirtyseconds or closing the message early. If the user watches the messagefor the full length of time, the media guidance application maydetermine that the user should not be interrupted with a second sponsormessage at a later date or time, or when viewing another movie. If theuser closes the message before the full length of time expires, themedia guidance application may instead determine that it will displaymedia objects during the user's viewing of content at a later date ortime, or when viewing another movie.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine that auser viewed a portion of a media object before closing the media objectand store an indication of the length of time the media object wasallowed to play. The media guidance application may then, upon receivinga subsequent indication that a media object should be presented, resumedisplay of the media object at the point where the user previouslyclosed the media object. Thus, the media guidance application maydisplay a complete media object to a user over several viewings of mediaobjects by displaying several smaller segments of the media object. Withthis technique, the media guidance application may present an entiremedia object to a user rather than displaying, for example, the samefive seconds every time the media object is presented. In those caseswhen a partial segment is shown, the media guidance application may alsodisplay a second media object for an allotted time following the firstmedia object to ensure that the sponsored time slot is always met orexceeded. For example, if a sponsor issues a media object in athirty-second time slot and a previously interrupted media object hadbeen closed with ten seconds remaining, then a second media object canbe shown after the ten remaining seconds of the first media object areviewed. In some embodiments, the media guidance application may playonly the next twenty-seconds of the second media object, i.e., a portionof the second media object to consume the originally slottedthirty-seconds. In some embodiments, the media guidance application mayextend the subsequent showing of the first media object with the secondmedia object to forty seconds, i.e., the full time period required toplay the remaining portion of the first media object as well as the fullportion of the second media object. In some embodiments, the mediaguidance application may determine that the requirements are fulfilledif the user allows the second media object to be complete.

An interaction requirement may be any suitable requirement that a userperform an action or refrain from taking an action. For example, aninteraction requirement may be that the user complete a survey or thatthe user refrain from closing a media object before the media objectcompletes playback of content. In some embodiments, interactionrequirements may comprise a result of complying with the interactionrequirement, e.g., information indicating the user will be provided withan opportunity if the user complies with the interaction requirement.

A media object may be any supplemental content that is presented to auser that is associated with, contains, or embeds terms of an agreement,contract, offer, or opportunity available to a user. In someembodiments, for example, the media object may comprise a set ofrequired user interactions that, if taken by the user, provide the userwith an opportunity to avoid additional media objects at a future point.For example, a media object may be a graphical overlay with anopportunity for the user to either complete viewing of the overlay orclose the overlay before viewing is complete. The media object mayspecify, explicitly or implicitly with metadata or other related text,that allowing content in the graphical overlay to complete playback willresult in an opportunity for the user to skip additional media objectsin the future. In some embodiments, the opportunity provided to the userin exchange for the user completing the requirements of the agreementmay include the opportunity to attend an event, the obtain a product, orthe consume content. In another example, a media object may comprise alink to content that is presented on the same or different display thatpresents opportunities for a user to interact with content in a mannerspecified by the media object, e.g., asking the user to complete asurvey or asking the user to provide user-generated content that isdisplayed on the same or a different screen from the media object. Ifthe user satisfies the requirements of the media object, the mediaobject may provide opportunities for the user to access content thatwould not otherwise be available. The attributes, requirements, andresults of interacting with a media object are varied and may becombined in any number of combinations. The results described herein areillustrative without limiting a media object.

A media guidance application may detect an interaction between a userand a first media object. For example, the media guidance applicationmay detect that a user allowed a media object to complete playback ordetect that a user completed a required action associated with the mediaobject. In response to detecting the interaction between the user andthe first media object, the media guidance application may determine acharacteristic of the interaction between the user and the first mediaobject. For example, the media guidance application may determine thatthe user clicked a link and completed a survey associated with a mediaobject. The media guidance application may correlate the characteristicof the interaction between the user and the first media object with anexclusion window. In some aspects, the media guidance application maycompare the user interaction with requirements of the media object todetermine which of several exclusion windows should be applied to theuser to suppress or obscure related media objects in the future.

A characteristic of an interaction may comprise any suitable informationabout a user's interaction with a media object. For example, acharacteristic of an interaction may include locations where the userclicked on a display or on a media object, the time at which the mediaobject was presented, the time at which the media object was closed, theduration the media object was presented, text entered in response to amedia object, transactions generated in response to a media object, thenumber of times the user interacted with the media object, and/or theamount of time between presenting the media object and the user'sinteraction with the media object.

An exclusion window may be a set of configuration settings appliedduring playback of media assets to allow a media guidance application tosuppress the generation of media objects. For example, an exclusionwindow may comprise a period of time during which a media guidanceapplication may suppress or obscure presentation of media objects, i.e.,an exclusion period. The exclusion window provides pertinent informationto allow the media guidance application to determine whether anexclusion applies to the presentation of a media object while the mediaguidance application determines whether a media object should bepresented or obscured. For example, an exclusion window may specify astart time, end time, exclusion length, viewer identity or identities,channels, media content, related media objects, applicable devices ordevice attributes, and/or attributes of relevant media content or mediaobjects. In some embodiments, the exclusion window may specify an actionor set of actions to be taken in response to determining the exclusionwindow applies. For example, the exclusion window may specify themechanism to be employed to obscure a media object or parametersassociated with obscuring the media object such as the amount oftransparency to apply to the media object or a position on a display atwhich the media object will be displayed.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may store, in astorage, a record that comprises a link between the exclusion window,the user, and an attribute of the first media object. For example, themedia guidance application may determine that media objects related to asponsor should not presented for the next 30 days, based on the user'sinteraction with a sponsor's message, and store a record that links the30-day exclusion window to the user for media objects from that sponsor.The media guidance application may detect that a second media object isto be generated for display during playback of a video. For example, themedia guidance application may play a video to the user and receive asecond media object from a sponsor. In response to detecting that thesecond media object is to be generated for display during playback ofthe video, the media guidance application may determine an attribute ofthe second media object. For example, the media guidance application mayextract the identity of the sponsor of the second media object. Themedia guidance application may retrieve the record of the link, from thestorage, by matching the attribute of the first media object from therecord to the attribute of the second media object. For example, themedia guidance application may use the sponsor's identity and user'sidentity as lookup values to retrieve possible exclusion windows thatmatch those parameters. In response to retrieving the record, the mediaguidance application may determine whether the exclusion window appliesto the display of the second media object. For example, the mediaguidance application may retrieve a 30-day exclusion window that isactive based on the current date versus a start and end date in thewindow. In another example, the presence of a matching record indicatesthat the exclusion window is active. In response to determining that theexclusion window applies to the display of the second media object, themedia guidance application may obscure the second media object whileplaying back the video. For example, the media guidance application mayset the transparency of the second media object to fully or partiallytransparent. In some embodiments, the media guidance application mayrefrain from displaying the media object, i.e., suppress the generationof the media object. In some embodiments, the media guidance applicationmay set the x-y position of the second media object to an unused portionof the display or may set the x-y position of the second media object toa coordinate that exists outside the bounds of the display. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may send the second mediaobject to a secondary display. In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may set the z-ordering of the second media asset to a lowerorder than the z-ordering of the video content. In some embodiments, thesecond media object may be associated with audio content and the mediaguidance application may set the volume associated with the audiocontent to a lower volume or mute the audio content entirely. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may refrain from processingthe second media object for presentation to conserve resources. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may replace the content ofthe second media object with content of interest to the user. Forexample, the media guidance application may obtain a set of preferencesfrom a user profile. Based on the user's preference, the media guidanceapplication may determine a video of interest to the user. For example,the media guidance application may determine that the user enjoys sportshighlights and provide the user with a highlight from a recently airedpay-per-view match based on the user satisfying the requirements of thefirst media object (which may also be related to the same pay-per-viewmatch). The media guidance application may replace the second mediaobject with an indicator that the video of interest is available to theuser based on the user satisfying a requirement of the first mediaobject. For example, the media guidance application may inform the userthat the pay-per-view highlight is available to the user by textualdescription.

An attribute of a media object may, for example, be any suitableinformation about the media object or information related to the mediaobject. In some embodiments, an attribute of a media object may be theidentity of a sponsor of the media object, information about the displayof a media object, textual data included with the media object, aproduct's name, an offer ID, an event name, a genre, and/or a category.For example, if a media object is a message from a sponsor, then anattributes of that media object may be the sponsor's name, to allow themedia guidance application to identify related media objects.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application correlates thecharacteristic of the interaction between the user and the first mediaobject with the exclusion window based on textual data. The mediaguidance application may retrieve textual data related to theinteraction between the user and the first media object. For example,the media object may comprise information stating a requirement of theinteraction, e.g., “allow 30 seconds of playback of media object withoutclosing to receive 30 days of sponsor-free viewing.” In someembodiments, the media guidance application may parse the textual datato obtain a set of parameters corresponding to the interaction betweenthe user and the first media object. For example, the media guidanceapplication may, using control circuitry for example, analyze “allow 30seconds of playback of media object without closing to receive 30 daysof sponsor-free viewing” and extract parameters comprising “30 seconds,”“playback of media object,” and “without closing,” “30 days,” and“sponsor-free.” The media guidance application may analyze the set ofparameters to determine a requirement. For example, the requirement maybe that the user must allow the media object to play for its full length(30 seconds) without closing the media object to satisfy therequirements of the media object. The media guidance application mayanalyze the set of parameters to determine an exclusion period to applyto the exclusion window. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine the exclusion window is a 30-day window during which mediaobjects for that sponsor are not generated for presentation. The mediaguidance application may determine whether the characteristic of theinteraction between the user and the first media object satisfies therequirement. For example, the media guidance application may determinewhether the user allowed the media object to play back for 30 secondswithout closing the media object. The media guidance application may, inresponse to determining that the characteristic of the interactionbetween the user and the first media object satisfies the requirement,apply the exclusion period to the exclusion window.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may analyze the setof parameters to determine the exclusion period to apply to theexclusion window based on a subject from the parameters. For example,the textual data of the media object may contain a name or descriptionof the sponsor of a media object or of content in the media object.During the parameter extraction, the media guidance application may alsoextract this content as a parameter. In some embodiments, the mediaguidance application may determine a subject from the set of parameters.For example, the media guidance application may identify the name of thesponsor as a parameter and use that name as a subject. The mediaguidance application may obtain, from a user profile, an interactionhistory for the user based on the subject. For example, the user profilemay contain a log of the user's interactions with media objects and themedia guidance application may retrieve interactions for the subject ofinterest based on a keyword association in the user profile. The mediaguidance application may analyze the interaction history to determine aninteraction frequency. For example, the media guidance application candetermine an interaction frequency based on an average amount of timebetween user interactions with media objects related to the subject. Themedia guidance application may determine the exclusion period based onthe determined interaction frequency. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine that a user interacts with related mediaobjects once every three months and determine the exclusion period basedon that time. In some examples, the media guidance application may usethe average time as the exclusion period, while in other examples themedia guidance application may use some percentage (either less than ormore than one hundred percent) of the average for the exclusion window.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine thatthe exclusion window is explicitly stated in a parameter. For example,the parameters may include “30 days,” and “sponsor-free.” In response todetermining the set of parameters comprises the exclusion time period,the media guidance application may extract the exclusion period from theset of parameters.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may provide anopportunity to the user to comply with another set of requirements toextend the exclusion period. For example, the media guidance applicationmay present a shorter message to the user reminding them of a subject inthe first media object close to the end of the full exclusion period. Insome embodiments, the media guidance application may detect that theexclusion period is within a threshold period of expiring. For example,the media guidance application may determine that that 30-day exclusionperiod will lapse in three days. In response to detecting that theexclusion period is within a threshold period of expiring, the mediaguidance application may prompt the user to satisfy a requirement of athird media object. For example, the media guidance application may askthe user to watch a short message from the sponsor to extend theexclusion for another 10 days. By using thresholds, the media guidanceapplication may determine when it is appropriate to allow the user torenew the exclusion window without unduly burdening the user withadditional media objects.

The media guidance application may determine whether the user satisfiedthe requirement of the third media object, e.g., that the user watchedthe short message. In response to determining the user satisfied therequirement of the third media object, the media guidance applicationmay modify the exclusion period of the exclusion window based on thethird media object. For example, the new message may be associated witha 10-day extension that is applied to the existing exclusion window. Ifthe user did not satisfy the requirements of the third media object, themedia guidance application may allow the exclusion period to lapse.After the lapse of the exclusion period, the media guidance applicationmay detect that a fourth media object that is related to the first mediaobject is to be generated for display. In response to determining thatthe fourth media object is related to the first media object, the mediaguidance application may determine whether the exclusion period of theexclusion window has expired and generate, for display, the fourth mediaobject.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may store theexclusion window based on a general attribute of the media object thatassociates the exclusion window with several subjects. For example, amedia object may be presented by a sponsor and the media guidanceapplication may determine that several similar sponsors present mediaobjects as well. In response to satisfying the requirements of one mediaobject, the media guidance application may determine that an exclusionwindow should be applied to media objects for similar sponsors. Asdescribed herein, the media guidance application may retrieve textualdata related to the interaction between the user and the first mediaobject and parse the textual data to obtain a set of parameterscorresponding to the interaction between the user and the first mediaobject. For example, the media guidance application may determine thatthe user filled out a survey related to the media object that appliesnot just to the current sponsor but that would also apply to surveysissued by other sponsors. The media guidance application may determine aset of related subjects based on the set of parameters. For example,each of the set of subjects may share a parameter. Further, the mediaguidance application may determine an attribute of the first mediaobject based on the set of subjects that is shared by each of thematching subjects. For example, if each sponsor is from a similar genre,the shared attribute may be the name of the genre or, if a media objectis related to a brand, then the attribute may be the category thatencompasses that brand.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may incentivize theuser to interact with the first media object within a certain time by,for example, providing different exclusion windows based on the speed atwhich the user responds. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine a first user reaction time based on a length of time betweenan initial display of the first media object and the interaction betweenthe user and the first media object. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine that the user took 15 seconds to respond to asurvey provided by the first media object. The media guidanceapplication may then correlate the characteristic of the interactionbetween the user and the first media object with the exclusion windowbased on the reaction time. For example, the media guidance applicationmay retrieve a plurality of other user reaction times. The mediaguidance application may determine that users reacted to the first mediaobject and determine those users' reaction times. The media guidanceapplication may then compare the first user reaction time to theplurality of other user reaction times. For example, the media guidanceapplication may order the reaction times for the users. The mediaguidance application may select the exclusion window from a plurality ofexclusion windows based on the comparing the first user reaction time tothe plurality of other user reaction times. For example, the exclusionwindow for the fastest reaction time (or top 10% of reaction times) mayprovide a longer or more robust (e.g. covering more devices, moresubject matters, other related users) exclusion window than is given tousers with slower reaction times.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may apply theexclusion window to other users based on a first user's interaction withthe first media object. For example, the media guidance application mayreceive a command, from a second user, to play video content. Duringplayback of the video content, the media guidance application may detectthat a second media object is to be presented to the second user asdescribed above. The media guidance application may then retrieve one ormore records of exclusion windows based on relationships the second userhas with other users. For example, there may be several exclusionwindows available to the second user based on not just the second user'sinteractions with media objects, but also on the interactions that otherusers made with media objects. Some of these exclusions may apply to thesecond user. For example, a media object may provide exclusion windowsto a user that interacted with the media object and apply the exclusionwindow to other members of a user's household. In some embodiments, themedia guidance application may determine a relationship between thesecond user and the user that interacted with the first media object.For example, the media guidance application may determine the users arehusband and wife or cohabitate in the same home. In some embodiments,the media guidance application may determine that the record of the linkof the exclusion window to the first user further comprises anindication the exclusion window is available to the second user based onthe determined relationship.

It should be noted that the systems and/or methods described above maybe applied to, or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a display screen that maybe used to display a media object on a device during playback of a videoin accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a display screen that maybe used to display a media object on a device during playback of a videoin accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative embodiment of a display screen that may beused to provide media guidance application listings and other mediaguidance information, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 4 shows another illustrative embodiment of a display screen thatmay be used to provide media guidance application listings, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment (UE) devicein accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for obscuring apresence of a media object in a video after a user fulfills aninteraction requirement with a related media object in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for correlatingcharacteristics of an interaction with an exclusion window in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for extending anexclusion window used for obscuring a presence of a media object in avideo after a user fulfills an interaction requirement with a relatedmedia object in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 10 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for analyzing theset of parameters to determine an exclusion period to apply to theexclusion window in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for obscuring amedia object while playing back a video in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 12 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for obscuring amedia object while playing back a video in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 13 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for storing arecord that links between an exclusion window, a user, and an attributeof a media object in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;and

FIG. 14 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for obscuring apresence of a media object in a video for a second user after a firstuser fulfills an interaction in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods are described herein for a media guidanceapplication that detects an interaction between a user and a first mediaobject and determines a period of time agreed to by the user during theinteraction. The media guidance application detects, during playback ofa video, a second media object related to the first media object that isto be depicted during playback of the video. The media guidanceapplication determines whether a playback time of the second mediaobject is within the period of time to which the user agreed. Inresponse to determining that the playback time of the second mediaobject is within the period of time, the media guidance applicationobscures the second media object from view by the user during playback.

As an example, a user may be watching a movie and receive a message froma sponsor describing promotional materials such as an opportunity toparticipate in an event, or products available for a limited-time, or amessage advocating a position to the user. The message, i.e., mediaobject, may be related with an action the user is required to take tomeet the requirements of the media object. For example, the user mayneed to allow the entire message to play without closing the message. Insome embodiments, the media object may state specific actions the usershould take to fulfill the requirements of the media object. In returnfor meeting the requirements of the media object, the user may receive abenefit. For example, the user may be allowed to access content thatwould not be otherwise available or may be given the opportunity toparticipate in an event otherwise not available to the user. In someembodiments, the user may be given the opportunity to obscure, e.g.,hide, future media objects that are related to the media object inquestion. In some embodiments, the opportunity to obscure subsequentmedia objects may be limited to a certain time window, i.e., anexclusion period. In some embodiments, the media object may include anexplicit statement of the exclusion period while in other embodimentsthe time period may be implied or may be determined by characteristicsof the user's interactions with the media object. Should the userfulfill the requirements, a media guidance application may save a recordthat an exclusion window is being applied for the user on media objectsrelated to the fulfilled media object so that a second media object thatappears during the exclusion period can be identified and obscured perthe user's agreement or the user completing the necessary actions.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a display screen that maybe used to display a media object on a device during playback of a videoin accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. FIG. 1 depicts auser equipment device 100 that implements a media guidance application105 by control circuitry, which may be located in a user equipment, at aremote server, or distributed across the user equipment and the remoteserver. The functionality of user equipment, control circuitry, and themedia guidance application is described in further detail with respectto FIGS. 3-6 .

In FIG. 1 , a media guidance application 105 is generating playback of amedia asset. For example, the media guidance application 105 may beshowing an episode of “Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.” The media guidanceapplication 105 depicts a video player screen 105 with playback controls130 including a play control element 133 and time slider 135. The mediaguidance application 105 may present display a media object 110 such asa sponsor message. In some embodiments, the media object 110 may includean interface element 115, such as an exit button, and may furtherinclude interaction requirement information 120 such as the amount oftime remaining in a sponsor's message.

In some embodiments, media guidance application 105 may, using controlcircuitry, detect an interaction between a user and a first mediaobject. For example, the media guidance application 105 may detect thata user allowed a media object to complete playback or detect that a usercompleted required action associated with the media object. In otherexamples, control circuitry may detect that the user clicked on mediaobject to perform an action associated with the object. Still othermedia objects may require that a user participate in an online survey orpost length of time between content to fulfill the requirements of themedia object. In another example, the media guidance application 105 maydetect that a message from a product manufacturer includes an offer tothe user to purchase a phone on an installment plan, e.g. twelvepayments of 30 dollars per month. The media guidance application maydetect that the user clicked on a promotional area of the media objectand purchased the phone. Other media objects may provide a user with alimited-time offer that unlocks access to content made available only tousers that interact with the media within a set amount of time. Forexample, the media guidance application may reside on a first device andcommunicate with a second device through a wired connection, such asEthernet, or wireless connection, such as IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n (“WiFi”),Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (“NFC”), radio, or any othersuitable wireless communication protocol. The media guidance application105 may receive data from a second device indicating user input, anactive application, or any other suitable metric related to use of thesecond device. For example, the second device may maintain a variable,flag, or other data structure indicating a state of a user input deviceof the second device. If the user is currently receiving input from theuser input device, the variable, flag, or data structure may be set toindicate that the user input device is active. The media guidanceapplication 105 may request or access the variable, flag, or datastructure to retrieve the current state of the input device. The seconddevice may also maintain a variable, flag, or data structure indicatinga state of an output device of the second device. For example, if thesecond device is currently outputting video or audio content, thevariable, flag, or other data structure may be set to indicate that anoutput device is active. The media guidance application may request oraccess the variable, flag, or data structure to retrieve the currentstate of the output device.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 responds todetecting the interaction between the user and the first media object bydetermining a characteristic of the interaction between the user and thefirst media object. For example, the media guidance application 105 maydetermine, using control circuitry, that the user clicked a link,completed a survey associated with a media object, or performed someother action. In some embodiments, the media guidance application maydetermine the user allowed a video to complete playing for a requiredlength of time as depicted in media object 110. In another example, themedia guidance application may detect that the user responded to anoffer to buy a phone on installments and entered into a 12-monthpurchase plan for a new phone. Other characteristics may include theamount of time the user spent performing an action related to the mediaobject, the amount of time the user allowed the media object to bedisplayed, the amount of time it took for the user to react, a number offriends the user shared the media object with, an amount of content theuser-generated in response to the media object 110. In some embodiments,the media guidance application 105 maintains a log file, database, orother data structure listing interactions the user made with the mediaobject 110 along with the amount of time the user interacted. Forexample, the media guidance application 105 may record, in the log file,database, or data structure, each time a media object is launched, anindication of the media object, and the time at which the media objectwas launched. When the user closes, exits, or otherwise leaves the mediaobject, the media guidance application 105 may record the time at whichthe user closed, exited, or left the media object. The media guidanceapplication 105 may then calculate and record a total usage time.Alternatively, the media guidance application 105 may calculate thetotal usage time upon requesting information related to the media objectfrom the log file, database, or data structure. The media guidanceapplication 105 may further calculate an average time that the userinteracts with the media object.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may correlatethe characteristic of the interaction between the user and the firstmedia object with an exclusion window. The media guidance application105 may compare the user interaction with requirements of the mediaobject to determine which of several exclusion windows should be appliedto the user to suppress or obscure related media objects in the future.For example, the media guidance application 105 may determine that auser allowed a media object to play for 20 seconds before the userclosed the media object. The media guidance application 105 may retrievea set of criteria that correlates the amount of time the user allowedthe media object to play with an agreed upon exclusion window. Forexample, allowing the media object to play for less than 10 seconds mayresult in no exclusion period, allowing the media object to play forbetween 10 seconds and 20 seconds may result in a five-day exclusionperiod, allowing the media object to play for between 20 seconds and 30seconds may result in a 10-day exclusion period, and allowing the mediaobject to play for more than 30 seconds may result in a 30-day exclusionperiod. In another example, the media guidance application may correlatethe user's purchase of a new phone with a 12-month purchase agreement.As part of the agreement, the phone manufacturer may agree not topresent related media objects to the user for all or some portion of the12 months. This condition may be explicitly stated in the media objector in textual data, for example, provided to the user along with themedia object. Thus, the media guidance application may correlate theuser's purchase of the new phone with a, for example, 11-month windowduring which media objects related to the new phone are not presented.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may correlatethe characteristic of the interaction between the user and the firstmedia object with the exclusion window based on textual data. The mediaguidance application 105 may retrieve textual data related to theinteraction between the user and the first media object. For example,the media object may comprise information stating a requirement of theinteraction, e.g., “allow 30 seconds of playback of media object withoutclosing to receive 30 days of sponsor-free viewing.” In someembodiments, the media guidance application 105 may use syntactical andsemantic parsing or otherwise determine information using part-of-speech(“POS”) tagging or other natural language processing approaches. In someembodiments, the media guidance application 105 may parse the textualdata to obtain a set of parameters corresponding to the interactionbetween the user and the first media object. For example, the mediaguidance application 105 may, using control circuitry for example,analyze “allow 30 seconds of playback of media object without closing toreceive 30 days of sponsor-free viewing” and extract parameterscomprising “30 seconds,” “playback of media object,” and “withoutclosing,” “30 days,” and “sponsor-free.” The media guidance application105 may analyze the set of parameters to determine a requirement. Forexample, the requirement may be that the user must allow the mediaobject to play for its full length, 30 seconds, without closing themedia object to satisfy the requirements of the media object. In anotherexample, the textual data may comprise an agreement, e.g., a purchaseagreement for a phone, including the details of the agreement used forthe parameters such as term, type of phone, cost of phone, form ofpayment, upgrade fees, media object exclusion period. The media guidanceapplication 105 may determine, from the set of parameters, that arequirement of the media object is that the user completes a purchase ofa product related to the media object or enter into an agreement, e.g.,a purchase agreement, presented by the media object. The media guidanceapplication 105 may analyze the set of parameters to determine anexclusion period to apply to the exclusion window. For example, themedia guidance application 105 may determine the exclusion window is a30-day window during which media objects for that sponsor are notgenerated. In some embodiments, the media guidance application mayanalyze an agreement, e.g., a product purchase agreement, and determinethat a parameter of the agreement is that the user will receive anexclusion window for related media objects while the agreement isactive, e.g., for the period of the agreement. The media guidanceapplication 105 may determine whether the characteristic of theinteraction between the user and the first media object satisfies therequirement. For example, the media guidance application 105 maydetermine whether the user allowed the media object to play back for 30seconds without closing the media object. The media guidance application105 may, in response to determining that the characteristic of theinteraction between the user and the first media object satisfies therequirement, apply the exclusion period to the exclusion window. Asdiscussed above, another example is that a media object may correspondwith an agreement, such as a 12-month purchase agreement, that includesa clause ensuring the user will not receive related media objects for11-months. The media guidance application may analyze the textual datato extract the 11-month window. For example, a parameter in theagreement may be “exclusion window” and be followed by a textualdescription of the 11-month window.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine that auser viewed a portion of a media object before closing the media objectand store an indication of the length of time the media object wasallowed to play. The media guidance application 105 may then, uponreceiving a subsequent indication that a media object should bepresented, resume display of the media object at the point where theuser previously closed the media object. Thus, the media guidanceapplication 105 may display a complete media object to a user overseveral viewings of media objects by displaying several smaller segmentsof the media object. With this technique, the media guidance application105 may present an entire media object to a user rather than displaying,for example, the same five seconds every time the media object ispresented. In those cases when a partial segment is shown, the mediaguidance application may also display a second media object for anallotted time following the first media object to ensure that thesponsored time slot is always met or exceeded. For example, if a sponsorissues a media object in a thirty-second time slot and a previouslyinterrupted media object had been closed with ten seconds remaining,then a second media object can be shown after the ten remaining secondsof the first media object are viewed. In some embodiments, the mediaguidance application 105 may play only the next twenty-seconds of thesecond media object, i.e., a portion of the second media object toconsume the originally slotted thirty-seconds. In some embodiments, themedia guidance application 105 may extend the subsequent showing of thefirst media object with the second media object to forty seconds, i.e.,the full time period required to play the remaining portion of the firstmedia object as well as the full portion of the second media object. Insome embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may determine thatthe requirements are fulfilled if the user allows the second mediaobject to be complete.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may analyze theset of parameters to determine the exclusion period to apply to theexclusion window based on a subject from the parameters. For example,textual data of a media object may contain a name or description of thesponsor of a media object or of content in the media object. In someembodiments, subject of the agreement may be a product that is thesubject of a purchase agreement, e.g., a phone. During the parameterextraction, the media guidance application 105 may also extract thiscontent as a parameter. In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication 105 may determine a subject from the set of parameters. Forexample, the media guidance application may identify the name of thesponsor as a parameter and use that name as a subject or may extract thebrand, model, or type of a product. In some embodiments, the mediaguidance application 105 may determine the name of event or name of anopportunity as the subject of the first media object. In someembodiments, the media guidance application 105 may use natural languageprocessing to determine the subject from the set of parameters. In someembodiments, the media guidance application 105 may query a remoteserver with information about the parameters to receive a determinedsubject. In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 mayobtain, from a user profile, an interaction history for the user basedon the subject. For example, the user profile may contain a log of theuser's interactions with media objects and the media guidanceapplication may retrieve interactions for the subject of interest basedon a keyword association in the user profile. The media guidanceapplication 105 may analyze the interaction history to determine aninteraction frequency. For example, the media guidance application 105can determine an interaction frequency based on an average amount oftime between user interactions with media objects related to thesubject. In another example, the media guidance application 105 may usethe user's transaction history or a term stated in an agreement relatedto a media object to determine that related media objects should beexcluded during the period of the agreement or until a time at which theuser is likely to be in the market for a related product. For example,the media guidance application may determine that the user purchases newphones anywhere from 12 months to 15 months, and thus determines anexclusion period for phone related media objects of 12 months. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may use interaction historyfor other user to infer an exclusion window. For example, the mediaguidance application may determine that the media object is related tothe purchase of a new phone and that the average market length of a newphone is 14 months. Thus, the media guidance application may offer anexclusion window to the user based on the market length even when theuser does not have prior interaction history that could be used todetermine the exclusion period. In another example, the textual data orparameters may contain an explicit exclusion period such as 11 monthsbased on a 12-month purchase agreement. The media guidance application105, may for example, determine that a user interacts with media objectssimilar to the first media object once every 9090 days and, using the9090-day frequency, the media guidance application 105 determines thatthe exclusion period of the exclusion window should be set to 9090 days.In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may determine anexclusion window based on a portion of or percentage of the frequency.For example, based on a 9090-day frequency, the media guidanceapplication 105 may determine to set the exclusion to 80 days.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine thatthe exclusion window is explicitly stated in a parameter. For example,the parameters may include “30 days,” and “sponsor-free.” In response todetermining the set of parameters comprises the exclusion period, themedia guidance application may extract the exclusion period from the setof parameters. In some embodiments, the media guidance application mayuse natural language processing to identify and extract an exclusionwindow from textual data of a purchase agreement associated with themedia object, e.g., a 12 months from the text of a purchase agreement,or extract text explicitly stating an 11-month purchase agreement.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may store, in astorage, a record that comprises a link between the exclusion window,the user, and an attribute of the first media object. For example, themedia guidance application may determine that media objects related to asponsor should not be presented for the next 30 days, based on theuser's interaction with a sponsor's message, and store a record thatlinks the 30-day exclusion window to the user for media objects fromthat sponsor. An attribute of the media object may be a sponsor name, acompany name, a genre, a product name, a media object categoryidentifier, or other information related to a media object. The mediaguidance application 105 may create a record in a log file, database, ordata structure that contains information linking, connecting, orrelating the exclusion window, the user, and the attribute of the mediaobject.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may store theexclusion window based on a general attribute of the media object thatassociates the exclusion window with several subjects. For example, amedia object may be presented by a sponsor and the media guidanceapplication 105 may determine that several similar sponsors presentmedia objects as well. In response to satisfying the requirements of onemedia object, the media guidance application 105 may determine that anexclusion window should be applied to media objects for similarsponsors. For example, the media object may be related to an upcomingopportunity or event, and there may exists several sponsor's presentingmedia objects about the upcoming event and the user's interaction with amedia object renders moot other sponsor's messages. The media guidanceapplication 105 may determine that other media objects should not bepresented to the user again. Thus, rather than storing the exclusionobject based on an attribute unique to the sponsor or media object, themedia guidance application 105 may instead analyze the media object foran attribute that would apply more broadly to similar media objects,e.g., based on the name of the event. As another example, the mediaguidance application 105 may retrieve textual data related to theinteraction between the user and the first media object and parse thetextual data to obtain a set of parameters corresponding to theinteraction between the user and the first media object. For example,the media guidance application 105 may determine that the user filledout a survey related to the media object that applies not just to thecurrent sponsor but that would also apply to surveys issued by othersponsors. In another example, the media guidance application maydetermine the media object is an offer to purchase a mobile phone from aparticular manufacturer. The media guidance application may determinethat the subject of the media object is phone, mobile phone, personalelectronic, or the name of the phone manufacturer. The media guidanceapplication 105 may determine a set of related subjects based on the setof parameters, e.g., other phone manufacturers based on the purchase ofthe phone, other personal electronic devices, or other categories ofproducts. In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 mayextract parameters by using syntactical and semantic parsing. In someembodiments, the media guidance application 105 determines key phrasesusing part-of-speech (“POS”) tagging or other natural languageprocessing approaches and obtains names of subject matters, sponsornames, product names, genres, events, or other relevant objects from thecurrent media object. The media guidance application 105 may determinethat each of a set of subjects may share a parameter. For example,several sponsors of an upcoming event with media objects promoting anopportunity for the user to interact with the sponsor at an upcomingevent may share a parameter related to the event name. Further, themedia guidance application 105 may determine an attribute of the firstmedia object based on the set of subjects that is shared by each of thematching subjects. For example, if each sponsor is from a similar genre,the shared attribute may be the name of the genre or if a media objectis related to a brand, then the attribute may be a category thatencompasses that brand. In another example, if the sponsor is promotingan opportunity for the user to interact with the sponsor at an event,the share attribute may be the name of the event.

The media guidance application 105 may detect that a second media objectis to be generated for display during playback of a video. For example,the media guidance application 105 may play a video, such as an episodeof “Mr. Roger's Neighborhood” as depicted in FIG. 1 to the user on auser equipment device 100. During playback the media guidanceapplication 105 may receive a second media object for display. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive another message froma sponsor, be it the same or a different sponsor. In response todetecting that the second media object is to be generated for displayduring playback of the video, the media guidance application 105 maydetermine an attribute of the second media object. For example, themedia guidance application 105 may extract the identity of the sponsorof the second media object. In another example, the media guidanceapplication may have previously stored an exclusion window based on theuser's agreement to a 12-month purchase plan on a mobile phone and thesecond media object may be a mobile phone from another manufacturer. Themedia guidance application 105 may retrieve the records of links betweenthe exclusion window, the user and the media object from the storage bymatching the attribute of the first media object from the record to theattribute of the second media object. For example, the media guidanceapplication 105 may use the sponsor's identity and user's identity aslookup values to retrieve possible exclusion windows that match thoseparameters. In another example, the media guidance application 105 mayuse an attribute shared by several exclusion windows or severalsponsors, e.g., the name of an upcoming event, to retrieve potentiallymatching exclusion windows. In another example, the media guidanceapplication 105 may use the product type or manufacturer name related toa user's prior purchases.

In response to retrieving the record, the media guidance application 105may determine whether an exclusion window applies to the display of thesecond media object. For example, the media guidance application 105 mayretrieve several exclusion windows based on the current viewer'sidentity and an attribute of the second media object. In the retrievedexclusion windows, the media guidance application 105 may locate, as anexample, a 30-day exclusion window that is active based on the currentdate versus a start and end date in the window. For example, theexclusion window may include a start date and end date, and the end datemay be listed as after the current date. Or the exclusion window may notinclude the start date but includes the end date. In further examples,the presence of the exclusion window (without a start or end date) mayindicate the exclusion window is active. In response to determining thatthe exclusion window applies to the display of the second media object,the media guidance application may obscure the second media object whileplaying back the video. For example, the media guidance application mayset the transparency of the second media object to fully or partiallytransparent. In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 mayrefrain from displaying the media object, i.e., suppress the generationof the media object.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may set the x-yposition of the second media object to an unused portion of the displayor may set the x-y position of the second media object to a coordinatethat exists outside the bounds of the display. For example, FIG. 2depicts an illustrative embodiment of a display screen that may be usedto display an obscured media object on a device during playback of avideo in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In FIG. 2 ,the media guidance application 105 is generating playback of a mediaasset. For example, the media guidance application 105 may be showing anepisode of “Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.” The media guidance application105 depicts a video player screen 105 with playback controls 130including a pause control element 233 and time slider 135. The mediaguidance application 105 may display a media object 205 such as asponsor message. In FIG. 2 , the media object 205 has been reduced insize and placed in a corner of the display in the media guidanceapplication 105.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may send thesecond media object to a secondary display. For example, the mediaguidance application 105 may have a primary display, such as atelevision, and the media guidance application 105 may be incommunication with a wireless device that can act as a secondarydisplay. For example, the media guidance application 105 may reside onthe first device and communicate with a second device 100 through awired connection, such as Ethernet, or wireless connection, such as IEEE802.11a/b/g/n (“WiFi”), Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (“NFC”),radio, or any other suitable wireless communication protocol. The mediaguidance application 105 may send instructions to the second device todisplay the second media object without presenting the media object onthe primary display.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may set thez-ordering of the second media asset to a lower order than thez-ordering of the video content. In some embodiments, the second mediaobject may be associated with audio content and the media guidanceapplication 105 may set the volume associated with the audio content toa lower volume or mute the audio content entirely. In some embodiments,the media guidance application 105 may refrain from processing thesecond media object for presentation to conserve resources.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may replace thecontent of the second media object with content of interest to the user.For example, the media guidance application may obtain a set ofpreferences from a user profile. Based on the user's preference, themedia guidance application 105 may determine a video of interest to theuser. For example, the media guidance application 105 may determine thatthe user enjoys sports highlights and provide the user with a highlightfrom a recently aired pay-per-view match based on the user satisfyingthe requirements of the first media object 110 (which may also berelated to the same pay-per-view match). In another example, the mediaguidance application 105 may determine a third media object that wouldinterest the viewer based on, for example, the parameters associatedwith the third media object, or may determine a third media object asbeing related to the second media object. In some embodiments, the mediaguidance application 105 may replace the second media object directlyand display the new content in place of the second media object. In someembodiments, the media guidance application 105 may replace the secondmedia object with an indicator that the video of interest is availableto the user based on the user satisfying a requirement of the firstmedia object. For example, the media guidance application 105 may informthe user that a pay-per-view highlight is available to the user bytextual description.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may provide anopportunity to the user to comply with another set of requirements toextend the exclusion period. For example, the media guidance application105 may present a message to the user, reminding them of a subject inthe first media object close to the end of the full exclusion period.The media guidance application 105 may determine a threshold amount oftime before the exclusion window expires. For example, the exclusionwindow may include a timestamp of the end of the window, or may includea relative amount of time from the date the exclusion was created. Inanother example, the media guidance application may determine that theuser entered into a 12-month purchase plan for a phone and, one monthbefore the expiration of that agreement, provide the user with anopportunity to purchase an upgraded phone. The exclusion window may alsoinclude an extension date or metadata from the creation date to show anextension opportunity. In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may calculate the amount of time between the current dateand the expiration of the exclusion window and calculate an appropriatedate and time to show an extension opportunity. In some embodiments, themedia guidance application 105 may convert the current system time to aninteger representing the current system time in Universal Time Code(“UTC”) format. The media guidance application may also convert an endtime of the exclusion window to a UTC integer value. The media guidanceapplication may then subtract the integer representing the current timefrom the integer representing the end time of the exclusion window todetermine the threshold amount of time. The media guidance applicationmay store the threshold amount of time in a variable or other datastructure. In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 maydetect that the exclusion period is within a threshold period ofexpiring. For example, the media guidance application may determine thatthat 30-day exclusion period will lapse in three days. In response todetecting that the exclusion period is within a threshold period ofexpiring, the media guidance application 105 may prompt the user tosatisfy a requirement of a third media object. For example, the mediaguidance application 105 may ask the user to watch a short message froma sponsor to extend the exclusion for another 10 days. In anotherexample, the media guidance application 105 may present an opportunityfor the user to upgrade a past purchase, e.g., phone, with a newpurchase. The media guidance application 105 may determine whether theuser satisfied the requirement of the third media object, e.g., that theuser watched the short message or purchased an upgrade to a product. Inresponse to determining the user satisfied the requirement of the thirdmedia object, the media guidance application 105 may modify theexclusion period of the exclusion window based on the third mediaobject. For example, the new message may be associated with a 10-dayextension that is applied to the existing exclusion window. The mediaguidance application 105 may modify the record linking the user, theexclusion window, and the attributes of the first media object by, forexample, changing the expiration date or the length of the exclusionperiod. If the user did not satisfy the requirements of the third mediaobject, the media guidance application 105 may allow the exclusionperiod to lapse. For example, the media guidance application 105 mayremove the record that links the user, the exclusion window, and theattribute of the first media object. In some embodiments, the record ofthe link is simply determined to not be active based on an end date orcalculation of the active period of the window. If the exclusion windowlapses, the media guidance application 105 may display related mediaobjects. For example, the media guidance application 105 may detect thata fourth media object that is related to the first media object is to begenerated for display. In response to determining that the fourth mediaobject is related to the first media object, the media guidanceapplication 105 may determine that the exclusion period of the exclusionwindow has expired and generate, for display, the fourth media object.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may incentivizethe user to interact with the first media object within a certain timeby, for example, providing different exclusion windows based on thespeed at which the user responds. For example, the media guidanceapplication 105 may present an opportunity for the user to interact withthe media object in a race with other users (either at the same time asusers or at different times in a virtual race). The user's reactiontimes may be used to rank the users and provide various opportunities ordifferent exclusion windows based on the reaction times. In someembodiments, the media guidance application 105 may determine a firstuser reaction time based on a length of time between an initial displayof the first media object and the interaction between the user and thefirst media object. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that the user took 15 seconds to respond to a survey providedby the first media object or that the user posted user-generated contentthree minutes after the first media object was displayed. The mediaguidance application 105 may then correlate the characteristic of theinteraction between the user and the first media object with theexclusion window based on the reaction time. For example, the mediaguidance application 105 may retrieve a plurality of other user reactiontimes. The media guidance application 105 may determine that usersreacted to the first media object and determine those users' reactiontimes. The media guidance application 105 may compare the first userreaction time to the plurality of other user reaction times. Forexample, the media guidance application may order the reaction times forthe users. In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 maygroup reaction times based on a preset range or based on a computedgrouping of reaction times. The media guidance application 105 mayselect the exclusion window from a plurality of exclusion windows basedon comparing the first user reaction time to the plurality of other userreaction times. For example, the exclusion window for the fastestreaction time (or top 10% of reaction times) may provide a longer ormore robust (e.g. covering more devices, more subject matters, otherrelated users) exclusion window than is given to users with slowerreaction times.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application 105 may apply theexclusion window to other users based on a first user's interaction withthe first media object. For example, the media guidance application 105may keep track, based on user profile information, of users from thesame household, same social circles, or same family and provide theexclusion window created in response to one user's interactions with thefirst media object to other members of the same household, socialcircle, or family. The media guidance application 105 may receive acommand, from a second user, to play video content. During playback ofthe video content, the media guidance application 105 may detect that asecond media object is to be presented to the second user as describedabove. Some exclusion windows may apply to a second user. A media objectmay provide an exclusion window to a user that interacted with the mediaobject and also provide the exclusion window to other members of auser's household. When determining whether an exclusion window appliesto a media object, the media guidance application 105 may the retrieveone or more records of exclusion windows based on relationships a userhas with other users. The media guidance application 105 may, forexample, use the second user's profile to determine the user'srelationships with other users. The media guidance application 105 maydetermine that there are several exclusion window available to thesecond user based on not just the second user's interactions with mediaobjects, but also based on the interactions that other related usersmade with media objects. The media guidance application 105 may, forexample, determine that a record linking an exclusion windows to a userfurther comprises an indication the exclusion window is available to thesecond user based on the determined relationship. For example, the mediaguidance application 105 may determine a current viewer is related toanother user based on cohabitating, e.g., family members. Whenretrieving records of exclusion windows, the media guidance application105 may retrieve exclusion windows based on the user's interactionsalong with records based on the related user's interaction.

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms dependingon the content for which they provide guidance. One typical type ofmedia guidance application is an interactive television program guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that,among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many typesof content or media assets. Interactive media guidance applications maygenerate graphical user interface screens that enable a user to navigateamong, locate and select content. As referred to herein, the terms“media asset” and “content” should be understood to mean anelectronically consumable user asset, such as television programming, aswell as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand(VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming content, downloadablecontent, Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio, content information,pictures, rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles,books, electronic books, blogs, chat sessions, social media,applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia and/orcombination of the same. Guidance applications also allow users tonavigate among and locate content. As referred to herein, the term“multimedia” should be understood to mean content that utilizes at leasttwo different content forms described above, for example, text, audio,images, video, or interactivity content forms. Content may be recorded,played, displayed or accessed by user equipment devices, but can also bepart of a live performance.

The media guidance application and/or any instructions for performingany of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded on computerreadable media. Computer readable media includes any media capable ofstoring data. The computer readable media may be transitory, including,but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals,or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to, volatile andnon-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk,floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processorcaches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are accessing media on user equipment deviceson which they traditionally did not. As referred to herein, the phrase“user equipment device,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronicdevice,” “electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “mediadevice” should be understood to mean any device for accessing thecontent described above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-topbox, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellitetelevision, a digital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), adigital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, aDVD recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, aBLU-RAY recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PCmedia server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationarytelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, aportable video player, a portable music player, a portable gamingmachine, a smart phone, or any other television equipment, computingequipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the same. In someembodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing screenand a rear facing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angledscreens. In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a frontfacing camera and/or a rear facing camera. On these user equipmentdevices, users may be able to navigate among and locate the same contentavailable through a television. Consequently, media guidance applicationmay be available on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may befor content available only through a television, for content availableonly through one or more of other types of user equipment devices, orfor content available both through a television and one or more of theother types of user equipment devices. The media guidance applicationsmay be provided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site),or as stand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices.Various devices and platforms that may implement media guidanceapplications are described in more detail below.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to providemedia guidance data to users. As referred to herein, the phrase “mediaguidance data” or “guidance data” should be understood to mean any datarelated to content or data used in operating the guidance application.For example, the guidance data may include program information, guidanceapplication settings, user preferences, user profile information, medialistings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcastchannels, titles, descriptions, ratings information (e.g., parentalcontrol ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or category information,actor information, logo data for broadcasters' or providers' logos,etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, 3D,etc.), on-demand information, blogs, websites, and any other type ofguidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locatedesired content selections.

FIGS. 3-4 show illustrative display screens that may be used to providemedia guidance data. The display screens shown in FIGS. 3-4 may beimplemented on any suitable user equipment device or platform. While thedisplays of FIGS. 3-4 are illustrated as full screen displays, they mayalso be fully or partially overlaid over content being displayed. A usermay indicate a desire to access content information by selecting aselectable option provided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, alistings option, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicatedbutton (e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other user inputinterface or device. In response to the user's indication, the mediaguidance application may provide a display screen with media guidancedata organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in agrid, by time, by channel, by source, by content type, by category(e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories ofprogramming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other organizationcriteria.

FIG. 3 shows illustrative grid of a program listings display 300arranged by time and channel that also enables access to different typesof content in a single display. Display 300 may include grid 302 with:(1) a column of channel/content type identifiers 304, where eachchannel/content type identifier (which is a cell in the column)identifies a different channel or content type available; and (2) a rowof time identifiers 306, where each time identifier (which is a cell inthe row) identifies a time block of programming. Grid 302 also includescells of program listings, such as program listing 308, where eachlisting provides the title of the program provided on the listing'sassociated channel and time. With a user input device, a user can selectprogram listings by moving highlight region 310. Information relating tothe program listing selected by highlight region 310 may be provided inprogram information region 312. Region 312 may include, for example, theprogram title, the program description, the time the program is provided(if applicable), the channel the program is on (if applicable), theprogram's rating, and other desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g., contentthat is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user equipmentdevices at a predetermined time and is provided according to aschedule), the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user equipmentdevice at any time and is not provided according to a schedule).Non-linear programming may include content from different contentsources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored content(e.g., content stored on any user equipment device described above orother storage device), or other time-independent content. On-demandcontent may include movies or any other content provided by a particularcontent provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “CurbYour Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content mayinclude web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or contentavailable on-demand as streaming content or downloadable content throughan Internet web site or other Internet access (e.g., FTP).

Grid 302 may provide media guidance data for non-linear programmingincluding on-demand listing 314, recorded content listing 316, andInternet content listing 318. A display combining media guidance datafor content from different types of content sources is sometimesreferred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of thetypes of media guidance data that may be displayed that are differentthan display 300 may be based on user selection or guidance applicationdefinition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings,only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings314, 316, and 318 are shown as spanning the entire time block displayedin grid 302 to indicate that selection of these listings may provideaccess to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings,or Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings forthese content types may be included directly in grid 302. Additionalmedia guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selectingone of the navigational icons 320. (Pressing an arrow key on a userinput device may affect the display in a similar manner as selectingnavigational icons 320.)

Display 300 may also include video region 322, and options region 326.Video region 322 may allow the user to view and/or preview programs thatare currently available, will be available, or were available to theuser. The content of video region 322 may correspond to, or beindependent from, one of the listings displayed in grid 302. Griddisplays including a video region are sometimes referred to aspicture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and their functionalitiesare described in greater detail in Satterfield et al. U.S. Pat. No.6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,794,issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated by reference hereinin their entireties. PIG displays may be included in other mediaguidance application display screens of the embodiments describedherein.

Options region 326 may allow the user to access different types ofcontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. Options region 326 may be part of display 300 (andother display screens described herein), or may be invoked by a user byselecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignablebutton on a user input device. The selectable options within optionsregion 326 may concern features related to program listings in grid 302or may include options available from a main menu display. Featuresrelated to program listings may include searching for other air times orways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling seriesrecording of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite,purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a mainmenu display may include search options, VOD options, parental controloptions, Internet options, cloud-based options, device synchronizationoptions, second screen device options, options to access various typesof media guidance data displays, options to subscribe to a premiumservice, options to edit a user's profile, options to access a browseoverlay, or other options.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations mayinclude varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays,font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g.,only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channelsbased on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display ofchannels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g.,recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality,etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internetcontent (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail,electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desiredcustomizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the content theuser accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with theguidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application mayobtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to aparticular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.Tivo.com, from other media guidance applicationsthe user accesses, from other interactive applications the useraccesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.), and/orobtain information about the user from other sources that the mediaguidance application may access. As a result, a user can be providedwith a unified guidance application experience across the user'sdifferent user equipment devices. This type of user experience isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 6 . Additionalpersonalized media guidance application features are described ingreater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No.7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and Ellis et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2002/0174430, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 4 . Video mosaic display 400 includes selectable options 402 forcontent information organized based on content type, genre, and/or otherorganization criteria. In display 400, television listings option 404 isselected, thus providing listings 406, 408, 410, and 412 as broadcastprogram listings. In display 400 the listings may provide graphicalimages including cover art, still images from the content, video clippreviews, live video from the content, or other types of content thatindicate to a user the content being described by the media guidancedata in the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also beaccompanied by text to provide further information about the contentassociated with the listing. For example, listing 408 may include morethan one portion, including media portion 414 and text portion 416.Media portion 414 and/or text portion 416 may be selectable to viewcontent in full-screen or to view information related to the contentdisplayed in media portion 414 (e.g., to view listings for the channelthat the video is displayed on).

The listings in display 400 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 406 islarger than listings 408, 410, and 412), but if desired, all thelistings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes orgraphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user orto emphasize certain content, as desired by the content provider orbased on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphicallyaccentuating content listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0153885, filed Nov. 12, 2009,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and itsdisplay screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 5 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 500. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 6 .User equipment device 500 may receive content and data via input/output(hereinafter “I/O”) path 502. I/O path 502 may provide content (e.g.,broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, contentavailable over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN),and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 504, which includesprocessing circuitry 506 and storage 508. Control circuitry 504 may beused to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable datausing I/O path 502. I/O path 502 may connect control circuitry 504 (andspecifically processing circuitry 506) to one or more communicationspaths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more ofthese communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 5 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 504 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 506. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 504 executesinstructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e.,storage 508). Specifically, control circuitry 504 may be instructed bythe media guidance application to perform the functions discussed aboveand below. For example, the media guidance application may provideinstructions to control circuitry 504 to generate the media guidancedisplays. In some implementations, any action performed by controlcircuitry 504 may be based on instructions received from the mediaguidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 504 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card,or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or anyother suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involvethe Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 6 ). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communicationof user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (describedin more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 508 thatis part of control circuitry 504. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 508 may be used tostore various types of content described herein as well as mediaguidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used(e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-basedstorage, described in relation to FIG. 6 , may be used to supplementstorage 508 or instead of storage 508.

Control circuitry 504 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 504 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of the userequipment 500. Circuitry 504 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the user equipment device to receive and todisplay, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitrydescribed herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating,encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digitalcircuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or moregeneral purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may beprovided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and recordfunctions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,etc.). If storage 508 is provided as a separate device from userequipment 500, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multipletuners) may be associated with storage 508.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 504 using user inputinterface 510. User input interface 510 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 512 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of userequipment device 500. For example, display 512 may be a touchscreen ortouch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface 510may be integrated with or combined with display 512. Display 512 may beone or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD)for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low temperature polysilicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display, activematrix display, electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display, cathoderay tube display, light-emitting diode display, electroluminescentdisplay, plasma display panel, high-performance addressing display,thin-film transistor display, organic light-emitting diode display,surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), laser television,carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometric modulatordisplay, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images.In some embodiments, display 512 may be HDTV-capable. In someembodiments, display 512 may be a 3D display, and the interactive mediaguidance application and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. Avideo card or graphics card may generate the output to the display 512.The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated renderingof 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or theability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be anyprocessing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry504. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 504.Speakers 514 may be provided as integrated with other elements of userequipment device 500 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos and other content displayed on display 512 may be played throughspeakers 514. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to areceiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers514.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone applicationwholly-implemented on user equipment device 500. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage508), and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodicbasis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, orusing another suitable approach). Control circuitry 504 may retrieveinstructions of the application from storage 508 and process theinstructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based onthe processed instructions, control circuitry 504 may determine whataction to perform when input is received from input interface 510. Forexample, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated bythe processed instructions when input interface 510 indicates that anup/down button was selected.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a client-serverbased application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented onuser equipment device 500 is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests toa server remote to the user equipment device 500. In one example of aclient-server based guidance application, control circuitry 504 runs aweb browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. Forexample, the remote server may store the instructions for theapplication in a storage device. The remote server may process thestored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 504) andgenerate the displays discussed above and below. The client device mayreceive the displays generated by the remote server and may display thecontent of the displays locally on equipment device 500. This way, theprocessing of the instructions is performed remotely by the server whilethe resulting displays are provided locally on equipment device 500.Equipment device 500 may receive inputs from the user via inputinterface 510 and transmit those inputs to the remote server forprocessing and generating the corresponding displays. For example,equipment device 500 may transmit a communication to the remote serverindicating that an up/down button was selected via input interface 510.The remote server may process instructions in accordance with that inputand generate a display of the application corresponding to the input(e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated display isthen transmitted to equipment device 500 for presentation to the user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded andinterpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (runby control circuitry 504). In some embodiments, the guidance applicationmay be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received bycontrol circuitry 504 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by auser agent running on control circuitry 504. For example, the guidanceapplication may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, theguidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files thatare received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitablemiddleware executed by control circuitry 504. In some of suchembodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

User equipment device 500 of FIG. 5 can be implemented in system 600 ofFIG. 6 as user television equipment 602, user computer equipment 604,wireless user communications device 606, or any other type of userequipment suitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gamingmachine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to hereincollectively as user equipment or user equipment devices, and may besubstantially similar to user equipment devices described above. Userequipment devices, on which a media guidance application may beimplemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of anetwork of devices. Various network configurations of devices may beimplemented and are discussed in more detail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system featuresdescribed above in connection with FIG. 5 may not be classified solelyas user television equipment 602, user computer equipment 604, or awireless user communications device 606. For example, user televisionequipment 602 may, like some user computer equipment 604, beInternet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 604 may, like some television equipment 602, includea tuner allowing for access to television programming. The mediaguidance application may have the same layout on various different typesof user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of theuser equipment. For example, on user computer equipment 604, theguidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a webbrowser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled downfor wireless user communications devices 606.

In system 600, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 6 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device and also more than one of eachtype of user equipment device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user televisionequipment 602, user computer equipment 604, wireless user communicationsdevice 606) may be referred to as a “second screen device.” For example,a second screen device may supplement content presented on a first userequipment device. The content presented on the second screen device maybe any suitable content that supplements the content presented on thefirst device. In some embodiments, the second screen device provides aninterface for adjusting settings and display preferences of the firstdevice. In some embodiments, the second screen device is configured forinteracting with other second screen devices or for interacting with asocial network. The second screen device can be located in the same roomas the first device, a different room from the first device but in thesame house or building, or in a different building from the firstdevice.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.Tivo.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 614.Namely, user television equipment 602, user computer equipment 604, andwireless user communications device 606 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 614 via communications paths 608, 610, and 612, respectively.Communications network 614 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, orother types of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. Paths 608, 610, and 612 may separately or together include oneor more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-opticpath, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g.,IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wirelesssignals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths. Path 612 is drawn with dotted lines toindicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 6 it is awireless path and paths 608 and 610 are drawn as solid lines to indicatethey are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, ifdesired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be providedby one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a singlepath in FIG. 6 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 608, 610, and 612, as well as other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 614.

System 600 includes content source 616 and media guidance data source618 coupled to communications network 614 via communication paths 620and 622, respectively. Paths 620 and 622 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 608, 610,and 612. Communications with the content source 616 and media guidancedata source 618 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 6 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 616 and media guidance data source 618, but only one of each isshown in FIG. 6 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The differenttypes of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, contentsource 616 and media guidance data source 618 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 616 and 618 withuser equipment devices 602, 604, and 606 are shown as throughcommunications network 614, in some embodiments, sources 616 and 618 maycommunicate directly with user equipment devices 602, 604, and 606 viacommunication paths (not shown) such as those described above inconnection with paths 608, 610, and 612.

Content source 616 may include one or more types of content distributionequipment including a television distribution facility, cable systemheadend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned bythe National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by theAmerican Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by theHome Box Office, Inc. Content source 616 may be the originator ofcontent (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) ormay not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand contentprovider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs fordownloading, etc.). Content source 616 may include cable sources,satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers,over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Contentsource 616 may also include a remote media server used to storedifferent types of content (including video content selected by a user),in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely storedcontent to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connectionwith Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 618 may provide media guidance data, such asthe media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may beprovided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. Insome embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-aloneinteractive television program guide that receives program guide datavia a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Programschedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the userequipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-band digitalsignal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitabledata transmission technique. Program schedule data and other mediaguidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog ordigital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 618may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from aserver, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipmentdevice. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing onthe user's equipment may initiate sessions with source 618 to obtainguidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of dateor when the user equipment device receives a request from the user toreceive data. Media guidance application may be provided to the userequipment with any suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, auser-specified period of time, a system-specified period of time, inresponse to a request from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance datasource 618 may provide user equipment devices 602, 604, and 606 themedia guidance application itself or software updates for the mediaguidance application.

In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include viewer data.For example, the viewer data may include current and/or historical useractivity information (e.g., what content the user typically watches,what times of day the user watches content, whether the user interactswith a social network, at what times the user interacts with a socialnetwork to post information, what types of content the user typicallywatches (e.g., pay TV or free TV), mood, brain activity information,etc.). The media guidance data may also include subscription data. Forexample, the subscription data may identify to which sources or servicesa given user subscribes and/or to which sources or services the givenuser has previously subscribed but later terminated access (e.g.,whether the user subscribes to premium channels, whether the user hasadded a premium level of services, whether the user has increasedInternet speed). In some embodiments, the viewer data and/or thesubscription data may identify patterns of a given user for a period ofmore than one year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., asurvivor model) used for generating a score that indicates a likelihooda given user will terminate access to a service/source. For example, themedia guidance application may process the viewer data with thesubscription data using the model to generate a value or score thatindicates a likelihood of whether the given user will terminate accessto a particular service or source. In particular, a higher score mayindicate a higher level of confidence that the user will terminateaccess to a particular service or source. Based on the score, the mediaguidance application may generate promotions that entice the user tokeep the particular service or source indicated by the score as one towhich the user will likely terminate access.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, themedia guidance application may be implemented as software or a set ofexecutable instructions which may be stored in storage 508, and executedby control circuitry 504 of a user equipment device 500. In someembodiments, media guidance applications may be client-serverapplications where only a client application resides on the userequipment device, and server application resides on a remote server. Forexample, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as aclient application on control circuitry 504 of user equipment device 500and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., mediaguidance data source 618) running on control circuitry of the remoteserver. When executed by control circuitry of the remote server (such asmedia guidance data source 618), the media guidance application mayinstruct the control circuitry to generate the guidance applicationdisplays and transmit the generated displays to the user equipmentdevices. The server application may instruct the control circuitry ofthe media guidance data source 618 to transmit data for storage on theuser equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry ofthe receiving user equipment to generate the guidance applicationdisplays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices602, 604, and 606 may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT contentdelivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any userequipment device described above, to receive content that is transferredover the Internet, including any content described above, in addition tocontent received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content isdelivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet serviceprovider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP maynot be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, orredistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets providedby the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers includeYOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IPpackets. YouTube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is atrademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu,LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively providemedia guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or mediaguidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidanceapplications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications),or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored onthe user equipment device.

Media guidance system 600 is intended to illustrate a number ofapproaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devicesand sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each otherfor the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. Theembodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset ofthese approaches, or in a system employing other approaches fordelivering content and providing media guidance. The following fourapproaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example ofFIG. 6 .

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribed above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similardevice provided on a home network, or via communications network 614.Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate differentuser equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may bedesirable for various media guidance information or settings to becommunicated between the different user equipment devices. For example,it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidanceapplication settings on different user equipment devices within a homenetwork, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. PatentPublication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types ofuser equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with eachother to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content fromuser computer equipment to a portable video player or portable musicplayer.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, someusers may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobiledevices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Varioussystems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issuedOct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home can use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith content source 616 to access content. Specifically, within a home,users of user television equipment 602 and user computer equipment 604may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locatedesirable content. Users may also access the media guidance applicationoutside of the home using wireless user communications devices 606 tonavigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloudcomputing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computingenvironment, various types of computing services for content sharing,storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networkingsites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing andstorage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloudcan include a collection of server computing devices, which may belocated centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-basedservices to various types of users and devices connected via a networksuch as the Internet via communications network 614. These cloudresources may include one or more content sources 616 and one or moremedia guidance data sources 618. In addition or in the alternative, theremote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such asuser television equipment 602, user computer equipment 604, and wirelessuser communications device 606. For example, the other user equipmentdevices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or a streamedvideo. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operate in apeer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, contentsharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well asaccess to any content described above, for user equipment devices.Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing serviceproviders, or through other providers of online services. For example,the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, acontent sharing site, a social networking site, or other services viawhich user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others onconnected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipmentdevice to store content to the cloud and to receive content from thecloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-storedcontent.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders,digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, andhandheld computing devices, to record content. The user can uploadcontent to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, forexample, from user computer equipment 604 or wireless usercommunications device 606 having content capture feature. Alternatively,the user can first transfer the content to a user equipment device, suchas user computer equipment 604. The user equipment device storing thecontent uploads the content to the cloud using a data transmissionservice on communications network 614. In some embodiments, the userequipment device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipmentdevices can access the content directly from the user equipment deviceon which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, forexample, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktopapplication, a mobile application, and/or any combination of accessapplications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloudclient that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or theuser equipment device may have some functionality without access tocloud resources. For example, some applications running on the userequipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications deliveredas a service over the Internet, while other applications may be storedand run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user devicemay receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. Forexample, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource whiledownloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device candownload content from multiple cloud resources for more efficientdownloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloudresources for processing operations such as the processing operationsperformed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG. 5 .

As referred herein, the term “in response to” refers to initiated as aresult of. For example, a first action being performed in response to asecond action may include interstitial steps between the first actionand the second action. As referred herein, the term “directly inresponse to” refers to caused by. For example, a first action beingperformed directly in response to a second action may not includeinterstitial steps between the first action and the second action.

FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for obscuring apresence of a media object in a video after a user fulfills aninteraction requirement with a related media object in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure. Process 700 may be executed bycontrol circuitry 504 (e.g., in a manner instructed to control circuitry504 by the media guidance application). Control circuitry 504 may bepart of user equipment (e.g., a user equipment generating media guidanceapplication 105, which may have any or all of the functionality of usertelevision equipment 602, user computer equipment 604, and/or wirelesscommunications device 606), or of a remote server separated from theuser equipment by way of communication network 614, or distributed overa combination of both.

Process 700 begins at 705, where control circuitry 504 detects aninteraction between a user and a first media object. For example, mediaguidance application 105, using user input interface 510, may detectwhether a user invoked actions provided by a first media object orconsumed content provided by the first media object.

At 710, control circuitry 504 may be configured to determine acharacteristic of the interaction between the user and the first mediaobject. For example, the control circuitry 504 may determine that theuser clicked a link, completed a survey associated with a media object,or performed some other action. In some embodiments, the controlcircuitry 504 may determine the user allowed a video to complete playingon display 512 for a required length of time as depicted in media object110. Other characteristics may include the amount of time the user spentperforming an action related to the media object, the amount of time theuser allowed the media object to be displayed, the amount of time ittook for the user to react, a number of friends the user shared themedia object with, and an amount of content the user-generated inresponse to the media object 110. In some embodiments, control circuitry504 may maintain a log file, database, or other data structure listinginteractions the user made with the media object 110 along with theamount of time the user interacted. For example, the control circuitry504 may record, in storage 508, each time a media object is launched, anindication of the media object, and the time at which the media objectwas launched. When the user closes, exits, or otherwise leaves the mediaobject, the control circuitry 504 may record the time at which the userclosed, exited, or left the media object. The control circuitry 504 maythen calculate and record a total usage time. Alternatively, the controlcircuitry 504 may calculate the total usage time upon requestinginformation related to the media object from the log file, database, ordata structure. The control circuitry 504 may further calculate anaverage time that the user interacts with the media object. In someembodiments, the control circuitry 504 may determine how quickly a userclicked a link provided by the media object, how much content auser-generated in response to a media object, the answers a userprovided in response to a survey associated with a media object, and thelength of time a user allowed a display 512 or speakers 514 to present asecond media object.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 504 determines the characteristicof the interaction between the user and the first media object comprisesdetermining a first user reaction time based on a length of time betweenan initial display of the first media object and the interaction betweenthe user and the first media object. For example, the control circuitry504 may determine that the user took 15 seconds to respond to a surveyprovided by a media object or that the user posted user-generatedcontent three minutes after the media object was displayed.

At 715, the control circuitry 504 may be configured to correlate thecharacteristic of the interaction between the user and the first mediaobject with an exclusion window. The control circuitry 504 may comparethe user interaction collected by user input interface 510 withrequirements of the media object to determine which of several exclusionwindows should be applied to the user to suppress or obscure relatedmedia objects in the future. For example, the control circuitry 504 maydetermine that a user allowed a media object to play for 20 seconds ondisplay 512 before the user closed the media object using input on userinput interface 510. The control circuitry 504 may retrieve a set ofcriteria that correlates the amount of time the user allowed the mediaobject to play with an agreed-upon exclusion window. For example,allowing the media object to play for less than ten seconds may resultin no exclusion period, allowing the media object to play for between 10seconds and 20 seconds may result in a five-day exclusion period,allowing the media object to play for between 20 seconds and 30 secondsmay result in a 10-day exclusion period, and allowing the media objectto play for more than 30 seconds may result in a 30-day exclusionperiod. The control circuitry 504 may retrieve the criteria from storage508 or extract the criteria from the media object.

In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 may incentivize the userto interact with the first media object within a certain time by, forexample, providing different exclusion windows based on the speed atwhich the user responds. The control circuitry 504 may correlate thecharacteristic of the interaction between the user and the first mediaobject with the exclusion window based on the user's reaction time. Thecontrol circuitry 504 may retrieve a plurality of other user reactiontimes, e.g., from storage 508 or from a remote server 615. Each of theplurality of other user reaction times may, for example, indicate alength of time between an initial display of the first media object to arespective user and an interaction between that respective user and thefirst media object. The control circuitry 504 may compare the first userreaction time to the plurality of other user reaction times and selectthe exclusion window from a plurality of exclusion windows based on thecomparing the first user reaction time to the plurality of other userreaction times. For example, the control circuitry 504 may present anopportunity for the user to interact with the media object in a racewith other users (either at the same time as other users or at differenttimes in a virtual race). The user's reaction times may be used to rankthe users and provide various opportunities or different exclusionwindows based on the reaction times. In some embodiments, the controlcircuitry 504 may determine a first user reaction time based on a lengthof time between an initial display of the first media object on display512 and the interaction between the user and the first media objectusing user input interface 510. For example, the control circuitry 504may determine that the user took 15 seconds to respond to a surveyprovided by the first media object or that the user posteduser-generated content three minutes after the first media object wasdisplayed. The control circuitry 504 may then correlate thecharacteristic of the interaction between the user and the first mediaobject with the exclusion window based on the reaction time. Forexample, the control circuitry 504 may determine the exclusion windowfor the fastest reaction time (or top 10% of reaction times), or mayprovide a longer or more robust (e.g., covering more devices, moresubject matters, other related users) exclusion window than is given tousers with slower reaction times.

At 720, the control circuitry 504 may be configured to store, in astorage 508 or at a remote server 615, a record that comprises a linkbetween the exclusion window, the user, and an attribute of the firstmedia object. For example, the control circuitry 504 may determine thatmedia objects related to a sponsor should not presented for the next 30days based on the user's interaction with a sponsor's message and storea record that links the 30-day exclusion window to the user for mediaobjects from that sponsor. An attribute of the media object may be asponsor name, a company name, a genre, a product name, a media objectcategory identifier, or other information related to a media object. Thecontrol circuitry 604 may create a record in a log file, database, ordata structure that contains information linking, connecting, orrelating the exclusion window, the user, and the attribute of the mediaobject. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 may store theexclusion window based on a general attribute of the media object thatassociates the exclusion window with several subjects as described withreference to FIG. 13 .

At 725, control circuitry 504 may continue process 700 by detecting thata second media object is to be generated on display 512 during playbackof a video to a user. For example, the control circuitry 504 may play avideo, such as an episode of “Mr. Roger's Neighborhood” as depicted inFIG. 1 to a user on display 512. During playback, the control circuitry504 may receive a second media object for display. For example, thecontrol circuitry 504 may receive another message from a sponsor, be itthe same or a different sponsor. In another example, the controlcircuitry 504 may detect the second media object embedded in the videoor may detect the second media object being transmitted in a paralleldata stream to the video.

At 730, the control circuitry 504 is configured to respond to detectingthat the second media object is to be generated for display duringplayback of the video by determining an attribute of the second mediaobject. An attribute of the media object may be a sponsor name, acompany name, a genre, a product name, a media object categoryidentifier, or other information related to a media object. In someembodiments, the control circuitry 504 may determine an attribute of thesecond media object based on textual data received in relation to thesecond media object in accordance with techniques described herein, forexample with reference to FIG. 13 .

The control circuitry 504 continues process 700 at 735 by retrieving therecord that comprises the link between the exclusion window, the user,and the attribute of the first media object. In some embodiments,control circuitry 504 retrieves the record from storage 508 by matchingthe attribute of the first media object from the record to the attributeof the second media object. In some embodiments, control circuitry 504may request the record from a remote server 615 using the attribute ofthe second media object. For example, the control circuitry 504 may usea sponsor's identity and user's identity as lookup values to retrievepossible exclusion windows that match those parameters. In someembodiments, the control circuitry 504 may determine a general attributeof the second media object that associates the exclusion window withseveral subjects. For example, the control circuitry 504 may determinean attribute of the second media object based on a subject determinedfrom parameters associated with the second media object, such asparameters obtained from textual data received with the second mediaobject.

At 740, the control circuitry 504 is configured to determine whether theexclusion window applies to the presentation of the second media object.For example, the control circuitry 504 may retrieve several exclusionwindows from storage 508 based on the current viewer's identity and anattribute of the second media object. In the retrieved exclusionwindows, the control circuitry 504 may locate a 30-day exclusion windowthat is active based on the current date versus a start and end date inthe window. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 may convertthe current system time to an integer representing the current systemtime in Universal Time Code (“UTC”) format. The exclusion window mayinclude a start date and end date, and the end date may be listed asafter the current date. Or the exclusion window may not include thestart date but includes the end date. The control circuitry 504 may alsoconvert an end time of the exclusion window to a UTC integer value. Thecontrol circuitry 504 may then subtract the integer representing thecurrent time from the integer representing the end time of the exclusionwindow to determine whether there is time remaining for the exclusionperiod, or the control circuitry 504 may make a determination of whetherthe end date integer is greater than the current date integer. Infurther examples, the presence of the exclusion window (without a startor end date) may indicate the exclusion window is active and applies tothe second media object.

If the control circuitry 504 determines that the exclusion window doesnot apply to the presentation of the second media object, the controlcircuitry 504 continues to 790 and generates the second media object fordisplay to the user.

In response to determining that the exclusion window applies to thedisplay of the second media object, the control circuitry 504 obscuresthe second media object while playing back the video. For example, thecontrol circuitry 504 may set the transparency of the second mediaobject to fully or partially transparent. In some embodiments, thecontrol circuitry 504 may refrain from displaying the media object,e.g., suppress the generation of the media object on display 512. Insome embodiments, the control circuitry 504 may set the x-y position ofthe second media object to an unused portion of the display 512 or mayset the x-y position of the second media object to a coordinate thatexists outside the bounds of the display 512. In some embodiments, thecontrol circuitry 504 may send the second media object to a secondarydisplay that is in communication with the control circuitry 504. In someembodiments, the control circuitry 504 may set the z-ordering of thesecond media asset to a lower order than the z-ordering of the videocontent. In some embodiments, the second media object may be associatedwith audio content and the control circuitry 504 may set the volumeassociated with the audio content to a lower volume or mute the audiocontent entirely. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 mayrefrain from processing the second media object for presentation toconserve resources. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 mayreplace the content of the second media object with content of interestto the user.

It is contemplated that the actions or descriptions of FIG. 7 may beused with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, theactions and descriptions described in relation to FIG. 7 may be done inalternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of thisdisclosure. For example, each of these actions may be performed in anyorder or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag orincrease the speed of the system or method. Any of these actions mayalso be skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should benoted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS. 5-6 could be used to perform one or more of the actions in FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for correlatingcharacteristics of an interaction with an exclusion window in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure. Process 800 may be executed bycontrol circuitry 504 (e.g., in a manner instructed to control circuitry504 by the media guidance application). Process 800 further expands on715 from FIG. 7 . Control circuitry 504 may be part of user equipment(e.g., a user equipment generating media guidance application 105, whichmay have any or all of the functionality of user television equipment602, user computer equipment 604, and/or wireless communications device606), or of a remote server separated from the user equipment by way ofcommunication network 614, or distributed over a combination of both.

Process 800 begins at 805 where control circuitry 504 retrieves textualdata related to the interaction between the user and the first mediaobject. For example, the media object may comprise information stating arequirement of the interaction, e.g., “allow 30 seconds of playback ofmedia object without closing to receive 30 days of sponsor-freeviewing.” In some embodiments, the media object may comprise anidentifier used by control circuitry 504 to review textual data from aremote server 615. In some embodiments, the media object may comprise aset of key-value pairs that, collectively, make up the textual data. Insome embodiments, control circuitry 504 may extract the textual datafrom visual content included in the media object intended for display toa user. For example, text may be embedded in a video message and thecontrol circuitry 504 may use optical character recognition, computervision, or other image analysis to retrieve the textual data.

At 810, control circuitry 504 continues process 800 by parsing thetextual data to obtain a set of parameters corresponding to theinteraction between the user and the first media object. For example,the control circuitry 504 may analyze “allow 30 seconds of playback ofthe media object without closing to receive 30 days of sponsor-freeviewing” and extract parameters comprising “30 seconds,” “playback ofmedia object,” and “without closing,” “30 days,” and “sponsor-free.” Insome embodiments, the parameters may comprise key-value pairs and thecontrol circuitry 504 may parse the keys and/or the values to obtain theparameters.

At 815, control circuitry 504 is configured to analyze the set ofparameters to determine a requirement from the set of parameters. Forexample, the requirement may be that the user must allow the mediaobject to play for its full length, 30 seconds, without closing themedia object to satisfy the requirements of the media object.

At 820, control circuitry 504 is configured to analyze the set ofparameters to determine an exclusion period to apply to the exclusionwindow. For example, the control circuitry 504 may determine theexclusion window is a 30-day window during which the control circuitry504 will not generate media objects for that sponsor. In someembodiments, control circuitry 504 determines the exclusion period toapply to the exclusion window based on steps 840, 845, and 850. At 840,the control circuitry 504 is configured to determine whether the set ofparameters comprises the exclusion time period. For example, theparameters may include “30 days,” and “sponsor-free.” In someembodiments, the parameters may be in the form of key-value pairs. Insuch embodiments, the exclusion period may be stored as a value, e.g.,“30 days,” associated with a key, e.g., “exclusion period.” In someembodiments, the control circuitry 504 may perform textual analysis toinfer an exclusion period from the parameters. For example, the controlcircuitry 504 may use natural language processing to identify a part ofspeech in related text that indicates exclusion period, e.g., “watchvideo for 30 days sponsor-free viewing” may be analyzed to determine theperiod is “30 days”. If the control circuitry 504 determines the set ofparameters does not comprise the exclusion period, the control circuitry504 may apply a default exclusion period in 845. For example, thecontrol circuitry 504 may retrieve a default exclusion period fromstorage 508 or from remote server 615. In some embodiments, the controlcircuitry 504 may use an attribute of the first media object to retrievethe default exclusion period. For example, different sponsors may supplythe system with different default exclusion periods for media objectsrelated to that sponsor and the control circuitry 504 may query storage508 or remote server 615 for the default exclusion period based on thesponsor's name. In response to determining the set of parameterscomprises the exclusion time period, the control circuitry 504 mayextract the exclusion period from the set of parameters at 850.

Process 800 continues at 830, where control circuitry 504 is configuredto determine whether the characteristic of the interaction between theuser and the first media object satisfies the requirement. For example,the control circuitry 504 may determine whether the user allowed themedia object to play back for 30 seconds without closing the mediaobject. In another example, the control circuitry 504 may determinewhether the user reacted to media object in a required amount of time orgenerated a required amount of user-generated content. In anotherexample, the control circuitry 504 may determine whether the user tookan appropriate action or participated in a required survey. In someembodiments, the control circuitry 504 may determine whether the usercompleted a purchase of a related product.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 504 responds to determining thecharacteristic of the interaction between the user and the first mediaobject satisfies the requirement by continuing process 800 at 835. At835, the control circuitry 504 is configured to apply the exclusionperiod to the exclusion window. For example, the control circuitry 504may update a log file, data file, a data structure, or a database recordwith the exclusion period. In some embodiments, the control circuitry504 may calculate an end date based on the determined exclusion period,e.g., 30 days, and the current date and update the exclusion window tospecify that end date or set an expiration date that, when reached,deactivates or deletes the exclusion window.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 504 response to determining thecharacteristic of the interaction between the user and the first mediaobject does not satisfy the requirement by continuing process 800 at837. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 may remove or deleteexclusion windows that currently exist in the system based on a relationto the first media object as discussed above.

It is contemplated that the actions or descriptions of FIG. 8 may beused with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, theactions and descriptions described in relation to FIG. 8 may be done inalternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of thisdisclosure. For example, each of these actions may be performed in anyorder or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag orincrease the speed of the system or method. Any of these actions mayalso be skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should benoted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS. 5-6 could be used to perform one or more of the actions in FIG. 8.

FIG. 9 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for extending anexclusion window used for obscuring a presence of a media object in avideo after a user fulfills an interaction requirement with a relatedmedia object in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.Process 900 may be executed by control circuitry 504 (e.g., in a mannerinstructed to control circuitry 504 by the media guidance application).Control circuitry 504 may be part of user equipment (e.g., a userequipment generating media guidance application 105, which may have anyor all of the functionality of user television equipment 602, usercomputer equipment 604, and/or wireless communications device 606), orof a remote server separated from the user equipment by way ofcommunication network 614, or distributed over a combination of both.

Process 900 is depicted as occurring at some point after an exclusionwindow has been applied to media objects related to a first mediaobject, e.g., after 835 of FIG. 8 for ease of description. At 955,control circuitry 504 detects that the exclusion period is within athreshold period of expiring. For example, the control circuitry 504 maydetermine that that 30-day exclusion period will lapse in three days.For example, the exclusion window may include a timestamp of the end ofthe window, or may include a relative amount of time from the date theexclusion was created. The exclusion window may also include anextension date or metadata from the creation date to show an extensionopportunity. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 maycalculate the amount of time between the current date and the expirationof the exclusion window and calculate an appropriate date and time toshow an extension opportunity. In some embodiments, the controlcircuitry 504 may convert the current system time to an integerrepresenting the current system time in Universal Time Code (“UTC”)format. The control circuitry 504 may also convert an end time of theexclusion window to a UTC integer value. The control circuitry 504 maythen subtract the integer representing the current time from the integerrepresenting the end time of the exclusion window to determine thethreshold amount of time. The control circuitry 504 may store thethreshold amount of time in a variable or other data structure.

At 957, control circuitry 504 is configured to continue process 900 byprompting the user to satisfy a requirement of a third media object. Forexample, the control circuitry 504 may ask the user to watch a shortmessage from a sponsor to extend the exclusion for another 10 days. Thecontrol circuitry 504 may present any media object with a requirement tothe user in a manner similar to how the control circuitry 504 presentsthe first media object on display 512. Furthermore, the third mediaobject may comprise an exclusion window, parameters, characteristics,and attributes to be processed by control circuitry 504 with thetechniques described herein.

Process 900 continues at 960, where control circuitry 504 determineswhether the user satisfied the requirement of the third media object.For example, control circuitry 504 may process the user's interactionswith the third media object in a manner similar to that as describedwith reference to FIG. 7 to determine whether the user satisfiedrequirements of that media object. If the user does not satisfy therequirement of the third media object, process 900 continues at 964.

In response to determining the user satisfied the requirement of thethird media object, process 900 continues at 962 where control circuitry504 modifies the exclusion period of the exclusion window based on thethird media object. For example, control circuitry 504 may retrieve theexclusion window from storage 508 or from the remote server and updatethe exclusion period of the exclusion window to account for theextension of the exclusion period. In some embodiments, the controlcircuitry 504 may obtain the end date and add additional time to the enddate before saving the record back into storage. In some embodiments,the control circuitry 504 may add additional time to a valid time lengththat is used along with a start date and save the record back tostorage.

At 964, control circuitry 504 is configured to detect that the fourthmedia object is to be generated for display. The control circuitry 504may detect the fourth media object in a manner similar to the techniquesdescribed with reference to 725 of FIG. 7 .

Process 900 continues at 966, where control circuitry 504 determineswhether the fourth media object is related to the first media object. Ifcontrol circuitry 504 determines that the fourth media object is notrelated to the first object, the control circuitry 504 can continue theprocess at 970 by determining whether another exclusion window appliesto the fourth media object in accordance to the techniques describedherein.

In response to determining that the fourth media object is related tothe first media object, control circuitry 504 continues at 968 bydetermining whether the exclusion period of the exclusion window hasexpired. For example, the control circuitry 504 may determine whetherthe exclusion window applies to the fourth media object in a mannersimilar to that as described with reference 740 of FIG. 7 . If controlcircuitry 504 determines the exclusion period of the exclusion windowhas expired, the control circuitry 504 can continue the process at 970by determining whether another exclusion window applies to the fourthmedia object in accordance to the techniques described herein.

At 972, control circuitry 504 is configured to respond to determiningthat the exclusion period of the exclusion window has not expired byobscuring the presentation of the fourth media object in accordance tothe techniques described above with reference to 745 at FIG. 7 .

It is contemplated that the actions or descriptions of FIG. 9 may beused with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, theactions and descriptions described in relation to FIG. 9 may be done inalternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of thisdisclosure. For example, each of these actions may be performed in anyorder or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag orincrease the speed of the system or method. Any of these actions mayalso be skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should benoted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS. 5-6 could be used to perform one or more of the actions in FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for analyzing theset of parameters to determine an exclusion period to apply to theexclusion window in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.Process 820A expands process 800 from 820 of FIG. 8 . Process 820A maybe executed by control circuitry 504 (e.g., in a manner instructed tocontrol circuitry 504 by the media guidance application). Controlcircuitry 504 may be part of user equipment (e.g., a user equipmentgenerating media guidance application 105, which may have any or all ofthe functionality of user television equipment 602, user computerequipment 604, and/or wireless communications device 606), or of aremote server separated from the user equipment by way of communicationnetwork 614, or distributed over a combination of both.

Process 820A begins at 1005 where control circuitry 504 determines asubject from the set of parameters determined in FIG. 8 . For example,textual data of a media object may contain a name or description of thesponsor of a media object or of content in the media object. During theparameter extraction, the control circuitry 504 may also extract thiscontent as a parameter. For example, the control circuitry 504 mayidentify the name of the sponsor as a parameter and use that name as asubject. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 may determinethe name of an event or name of an opportunity as the subject of thefirst media object. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 mayuse natural language processing to determine the subject from the set ofparameters. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 may query aremote server 615 with information about the parameters to receive adetermined subject.

At 1010, the control circuitry 504 is configured to continue process820A by obtaining, from a user profile from storage 508, an interactionhistory for the user based on the subject. For example, the user profilemay contain a log of the user's interactions with media objects and thecontrol circuitry 504 may retrieve interactions for the subject ofinterest based on a keyword association in the user profile. The controlcircuitry 504 may retrieve a series of dates and times when the userinteracted with content from the media object, when the user posteduser-generated content, when the user purchased certain products orservices, when the user attended certain events, and/or when the userparticipated in certain surveys. Furthermore, the user's interactionhistory may include other details of those interactions, e.g., theduration of the interaction, the quality of the interaction, andexpenditures related to the interactions.

At 1015, process 820A continues where the control circuitry 504 analyzesthe interaction history to determine an interaction frequency. Forexample, the interaction frequency is determined based on an averageamount of time between user interactions with media objects related tothe subject. The control circuitry 504, may for example, determine thata user interacts with media objects similar to the first media objectonce every 90 days and, using the 90-day frequency. At 1020, the controlcircuitry 504 is configured to determine the exclusion period based onthe determined interaction frequency. For example, the control circuitry504 determines that the exclusion period of the exclusion window shouldbe set to 90 days. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 maydetermine an exclusion window based on a portion of or percentage of thefrequency. For example, based on a 90-day frequency, the controlcircuitry 504 may determine to set the exclusion to 80 days.

It is contemplated that the actions or descriptions of FIG. 10 may beused with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, theactions and descriptions described in relation to FIG. 10 may be done inalternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of thisdisclosure. For example, each of these actions may be performed in anyorder or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag orincrease the speed of the system or method. Any of these actions mayalso be skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should benoted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS. 5-6 could be used to perform one or more of the actions in FIG. 10.

FIG. 11 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for obscuring amedia object while playing back a video in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. Process 745A expands process 700 from 740of FIG. 7 . Process 745A may be executed by control circuitry 504 (e.g.,in a manner instructed to control circuitry 504 by the media guidanceapplication). Control circuitry 504 may be part of user equipment (e.g.,a user equipment generating media guidance application 105, which mayhave any or all of the functionality of user television equipment 602,user computer equipment 604, and/or wireless communications device 606),or of a remote server separated from the user equipment by way ofcommunication network 614, or distributed over a combination of both.

In FIG. 11 , the control circuitry 504 continues process 700 at 1105 bymodifying an alpha channel attribute of the second media object toincrease transparency of the second media object during playback of thevideo. For example, the control circuitry 504 may set the transparencyof the second media object to fully or partially transparent whengenerating the media object for display on display 512.

The alpha channel attribute may be a set of characteristics that definehow an image's colors should be merged with other images. In someembodiments, the control circuitry 504 may apply an alpha channel tomedia object in the form of a masking operation. The value of an alphachannel may be a decimal value in the range, for example, from 0 to 1. Avalue 0.0 may indicate full transparency and the media object may notappear when the alpha channel attribute is set to 0.0 for a given mediaobject. A value of 1.0 may indicate full coverage so that the mediaobject is fully visibly, i.e., has no transparency.

It is contemplated that the actions or descriptions of FIG. 11 may beused with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, theactions and descriptions described in relation to FIG. 11 may be done inalternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of thisdisclosure. For example, each of these actions may be performed in anyorder or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag orincrease the speed of the system or method. Any of these actions mayalso be skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should benoted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS. 5-6 could be used to perform one or more of the actions in FIG. 11.

FIG. 12 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for obscuring amedia object while playing back a video in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. Process 745B expands process 700 from 740of FIG. 7 . Process 745B may be executed by control circuitry 504 (e.g.,in a manner instructed to control circuitry 504 by the media guidanceapplication). Control circuitry 504 may be part of user equipment (e.g.,a user equipment generating media guidance application 105, which mayhave any or all of the functionality of user television equipment 602,user computer equipment 604, and/or wireless communications device 606),or of a remote server separated from the user equipment by way ofcommunication network 614, or distributed over a combination of both.

In FIG. 12 , the control circuitry 504 continues process 700 at 1205 byobtaining a set of preferences from a user profile. For example, themedia guidance application may obtain a set of preferences from a userprofile. At 1210, the control circuitry 504 is configured to determine avideo of interest to the user based on the set of preferences. Forexample, the control circuitry 504 may determine that the user enjoyssports highlights and provide the user with a highlight from a recentlyaired pay-per-view match based on the user satisfying the requirementsof the first media object 110 (which may also be related to the samepay-per-view match). In another example, the control circuitry 504 maydetermine a third media object that would interest the viewer based on,for example, the parameters associated with the third media object ormay determine third media object as being related to the second mediaobject.

Process 745B continues at 1215, where control circuitry 504 replaces thesecond media object with an indicator that the video of interest isavailable to the user based on the user satisfying a requirement of thefirst media object. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 mayreplace the second media object with an indicator that the video ofinterest is available to the user based on the user satisfying arequirement of the first media object. For example, the controlcircuitry 504 may inform the user that the pay-per-view highlight isavailable to the user by textual description. In some embodiments,control circuitry 504 replaces the content of the second media objectwith determined content for display on display 512.

It is contemplated that the actions or descriptions of FIG. 12 may beused with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, theactions and descriptions described in relation to FIG. 12 may be done inalternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of thisdisclosure. For example, each of these actions may be performed in anyorder or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag orincrease the speed of the system or method. Any of these actions mayalso be skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should benoted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS. 5-6 could be used to perform one or more of the actions in FIG. 12.

FIG. 13 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for storing arecord that links between an exclusion window, a user, and an attributeof a media object in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.Process 720A expands 720 of FIG. 7 . Process 720A may be executed bycontrol circuitry 504 (e.g., in a manner instructed to control circuitry504 by the media guidance application). Control circuitry 504 may bepart of user equipment (e.g., a user equipment generating media guidanceapplication 105, which may have any or all of the functionality of usertelevision equipment 602, user computer equipment 604, and/or wirelesscommunications device 606), or of a remote server separated from theuser equipment by way of communication network 614, or distributed overa combination of both.

Process 720A begins at 1305, where control circuitry 504 retrievestextual data related to the interaction between the user and the firstmedia object. For example, control circuitry 504 may retrieve thetextual data in the same manner as described with reference to FIG. 8 at805. At 1310, process 720A continues with control circuitry 504 parsingthe textual data to obtain a set of parameters corresponding to theinteraction between the user and the first media object. For example,control circuitry 504 may obtain the set of parameters using the sametechniques described with reference to 810 in FIG. 8 .

At 1315, control circuitry 504 is configured to determine a set ofsubjects based on the set of parameters, wherein each of the set ofsubjects shares at least one parameter of the set of parameters. Forexample, several sponsors of an upcoming event with media objectspromoting an opportunity for the user to interact with the sponsor at anupcoming event may share a parameter related to the event name. In someembodiments, the textual data of a media object may contain a name ordescription of the sponsor of a media object or of content in the mediaobject. During the parameter extraction, the control circuitry 504 mayalso extract this content as a parameter. The parameter may be used bythe control circuitry 504 to query related sponsors and the controlcircuitry 504 may obtain the names of the several sponsors as the set ofsubjects, for example. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504may use natural language processing to determine the subject from theset of parameters. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 mayquery a remote server 615 with information about the parameters toreceive the set of subjects based on a parameter in the textual data.

At 1320, control circuitry 504 may determine an attribute of the firstmedia object based on the set of subjects that is shared by each of thematching subjects. For example, if each sponsor is from a similar genre,the shared attribute may be the name of the genre, or if a media objectis related to a brand, then the attribute may be category thatencompasses that brand. In another example, if the sponsor is promotingan opportunity for the user to interact with the sponsor at an event,the shared attribute may be the name of the event. For example, severalsponsors may be food vendors at an upcoming event that are participatingin shared promotion of the event. If the user interacts with one mediaobject from the set of sponsors, the user may receive an exclusionwindow that prevents the display of media objects from several of therelated sponsors. The control circuitry 504 may determine a sharedattribute that would allow a single exclusion window to be related tothe set of subjects. For example, the shared attribute may be determinedto be an identifier of a category for vendors at the upcoming event. Insome embodiments, the control circuitry 504 may create multipleexclusion windows, each window associated with a different one of thesubject.

It is contemplated that the actions or descriptions of FIG. 13 may beused with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, theactions and descriptions described in relation to FIG. 13 may be done inalternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of thisdisclosure. For example, each of these actions may be performed in anyorder or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag orincrease the speed of the system or method. Any of these actions mayalso be skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should benoted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS. 5-6 could be used to perform one or more of the actions in FIG. 13.

FIG. 14 depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for obscuring apresence of a media object in a video for a second user after a firstuser fulfills an interaction in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. Process 1400 depicts the continuation of process 700 when anexclusion window created in response to a first user's interaction isapplied to a related user and shows an exemplary expansion of 735 ofFIG. 7 in steps 1405-1415. Process 1400 may be executed by controlcircuitry 504 (e.g., in a manner instructed to control circuitry 504 bythe media guidance application). Control circuitry 504 may be part ofuser equipment (e.g., a user equipment generating media guidanceapplication 105, which may have any or all of the functionality of usertelevision equipment 602, user computer equipment 604, and/or wirelesscommunications device 606), or of a remote server separated from theuser equipment by way of communication network 614, or distributed overa combination of both.

Process 1400 begins after the storage of an exclusion window in FIG. 7at 1401 where control circuitry 504 receives a command, from a seconduser, to play the video. For example, a second user may interact withuser input interface 510 to instruct the control circuitry 504 togenerate playback of a video on a display 512.

Step 735 of FIG. 7 may then be described in relation to detecting that asecond media object should be presented for display during playback ofthe video to the second user. As described herein, some exclusionwindows may apply to a second user, not just the user that interactedwith the media object responsible for creating the exclusion window. Amedia object may provide an exclusion windows to a user that interactedwith the media object and also provide the exclusion window to othermembers of a user's household.

Thus, process 1400 may continue at 1405 with control circuitry 504retrieving one or more records based on relationships the second userhas with other users. The control circuitry 504 may, for example, usethe second user's profile to determine the user's relationships withother users. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 504 may accessbilling data, e.g., account name, account number, billing address, orpayment information, and correlate that information with other users.For example, the control circuitry 504 may match the billing address onan account to identify other users in the same household. In someembodiments, the control circuitry 504 may access a datastore withrelationship information. For example, a system may provide users withan opportunity to add family members or confirm relationships to otherusers. The control circuitry 504 may determine that there are severalexclusion windows available to the second user based on not just thesecond user's interactions with media objects, but also on theinteractions that other related users made with media objects.

Process 1400 continues at 1410, where the control circuitry 504 isconfigured determining a relationship between the second user and theuser that interacted with the first media object. For example, thecontrol circuitry 504 may retrieve the record of the exclusion windowfrom storage 508 and get the identity of the user that interacted withthe media object. The control circuitry 504 may then determine that thefirst user is directly related to the second user, for example bymarriage.

At 1415, the control circuitry 504 continues process 1415 by determiningwhether the record of the first media object further comprises anindication the exclusion window is available to the second user based onthe determined relationship. For example, the exclusion window mayinclude parameters or attributes that indicate that the exclusion windowapplies to the first user's direct relationships but not to users thatare simply in the same social group, e.g., friends. Thus, using thedetermined relationship of marriage, the control circuitry 504 maydetermine that, in fact, the exclusion window does apply to the seconduser. Or, if the case were that the second user was related to the firstuser only by friendship, then the control circuitry 504 may determinethat the exclusion windows does not, in fact, apply to the second user.

In the case that the control circuitry 504 determines that the record ofthe link between the exclusion window and the attributes of first mediaobject further comprises an indication the exclusion window is availableto the second user based on the determined relationship, the controlcircuitry 504 may continue by obscuring the second media object aspreviously described with reference to 745 of FIG. 7 .

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of theprocesses discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined, and/orrearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departingfrom the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure ismeant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow aremeant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes.Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and limitationsdescribed in any one embodiment may be applied to any other embodimentherein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may becombined with any other embodiment in a suitable manner, done indifferent orders, or done in parallel. In addition, the systems andmethods described herein may be performed in real time. It should alsobe noted, the systems and/or methods described above may be applied to,or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.

While some portions of this disclosure may make reference to“convention,” any such reference is merely for the purpose of providingcontext to the invention(s) of the instant disclosure, and does not formany admission as to what constitutes the state of the art.

1-51. (canceled)
 52. A method comprising: generating a display of mediacontent; generating a display of a first media object simultaneouslywith the display of the media content, the first media object beingdistinct from the media content; determining a user reaction time basedon a length of time between an initial display of the first media objectand an interaction between the user and the first media object;determining a length of an exclusion time period based on the userreaction time; and in response to determining that the exclusion timeperiod has elapsed, generating a display of a second media objectsimultaneously with the display of the media content, the second mediaobject being distinct from the media content.
 53. The method of claim52, wherein the second media object is caused to be obscured in responseto determining that the exclusion time period has not elapsed.
 54. Themethod of claim 52, wherein the second media object is retrieved fromthe same source as the first media object.
 55. The method of claim 52,further comprising setting a plurality of available exclusion timeperiod lengths based on a plurality of users' aggregate reaction timesto the display of the first media object, wherein the length of theexclusion time period is determined from the available exclusion timeperiod lengths.
 56. The method of claim 52, further comprising, inresponse to determining that the exclusion time period has not elapsed,generating a display of a third media object simultaneously with thedisplay of the media content, the third media content being distinctfrom the media content, from the first media object and from the secondmedia object.
 57. The method of claim 52, wherein the length of theexclusion time period is further determined based on a type of theinteraction between the user and the first media object, and furthercomprising: generating a user notification indicating a type of theinteraction available and the length of the exclusion time periodassociated with the type of the interaction.
 58. The method of claim 52,wherein the length of the exclusion time period is further determinedbased on a type of the interaction between the user and the first mediaobject.
 59. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprisinginstructions that when executed by control circuitry are configured tocause the control circuitry to: generate a display of media content;generate a display of a first media object simultaneously with thedisplay of the media content, the first media object being distinct fromthe media content; determine a user reaction time based on a length oftime between an initial display of the first media object and aninteraction between the user and the first media object; determine alength of an exclusion time period based on the user reaction time; andin response to determining that the exclusion time period has elapsed,generate a display of a second media object simultaneously with thedisplay of the media content, the second media object being distinctfrom the media content.
 60. The computer-readable medium of claim 59,wherein the second media object is caused to be obscured in response todetermining that the exclusion time period has not elapsed.
 61. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 59, wherein the second media object isretrieved from the same source as the first media object.
 62. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 59, further comprising instruction tocause setting a plurality of available exclusion time period lengthsbased on a plurality of users' aggregate reaction times to the displayof the first media object, wherein the length of the exclusion timeperiod is determined from the available exclusion time period lengths.63. The computer-readable medium of claim 59, further comprisinginstructions to generate, in response to determining that the exclusiontime period has not elapsed, a display of a third media objectsimultaneously with the display of the media content, the third mediacontent being distinct from the media content, from the first mediaobject and from the second media object.
 64. The computer-readablemedium of claim 59, wherein the length of the exclusion time period isfurther determined based on a type of the interaction between the userand the first media object, and further comprising: instructions tocause generating a user notification indicating a type of theinteraction available and the length of the exclusion time periodassociated with the type of the interaction.
 65. The computer-readablemedium of claim 59, wherein the length of the exclusion time period isfurther determined based on a type of the interaction between the userand the first media object.
 66. A system comprising: a processingcircuitry configured to generate a display of media content; theprocessing circuitry configured to generate a display of a first mediaobject simultaneously with the display of the media content, the firstmedia object being distinct from the media content; an input/outputinterface circuitry configured to receive a user reaction with the firstmedia object; the processing circuitry configured to determine a userreaction time based on a length of time between an initial display ofthe first media object and an interaction between the user and the firstmedia object; the processing circuitry configured to determine a lengthof an exclusion time period based on the user reaction time; and theprocessing circuitry configured to generate, in response to determiningthat the exclusion time period has elapsed, a display of a second mediaobject simultaneously with the display of the media content, the secondmedia object being distinct from the media content.
 67. The system ofclaim 66, wherein the second media object is caused to be obscured inresponse to determining that the exclusion time period has not elapsed.68. The system of claim 66, wherein the second media object is retrievedfrom the same source as the first media object.
 69. The system of claim66, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to set a plurality ofavailable exclusion time period lengths based on a plurality of users'aggregate reaction times to the display of the first media object,wherein the length of the exclusion time period is determined from theavailable exclusion time period lengths.
 70. The system of claim 66,wherein the processing circuitry is configured to generate, in responseto determining that the exclusion time period has not elapsed, a displayof a third media object simultaneously with the display of the mediacontent, the third media content being distinct from the media content,from the first media object and from the second media object.
 71. Thesystem of claim 66, wherein the length of the exclusion time period isfurther determined based on a type of the interaction between the userand the first media object.